Canada's Carney to head Bank of England
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E-mail Xinhua, November 27, 2012
The man credited with keeping Canada's monetary system stable will cross the Atlantic next year to Europe and head one of the world's oldest central banks in the world's seventh-largest economy.
Canadian Finance Minister Jim Flaherty announced here Monday that Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney will become the chief of the Bank of England on July 1.
Flaherty viewed Carney's overseas appointment as a "yet another clear sign that Canada and the way we handle our economic affairs are being up as a model for the world to follow."
He acknowledged the work Carney -- who served as his senior associate deputy finance minister prior to Carney's appointment as Bank of Canada governor -- "has done and the advice he has given to keep Canada's economy strong, protect Canadian jobs and maintain the stability of our monetary system."
Long rumored to be in the running for Britain's top banking job, Carney sees his appointment as an "opportunity to see through the path of ...global financial reform...to see through the transition and the rebalancing of the UK economy, and also to re-launch the Bank of England with its much expanded and vital responsibilities."
"This is a critical time for the British, European and global economies," 47-year-old Carney, a marathon runner and former investment banker, said at a news conference.
"It's a decisive period for reform of the global financial system, including its leading financial center, the city of London - and it's a crucial point in the Bank of England's history as it accepts vital new responsibilities," he said.
He also pointed out that he has ties to Britain. His wife and four daughters hold British and Canadian citizenship, and he lived in Britain for a decade, including an investment-banking position with Goldman Sachs in London.
Appointed as the eighth governor of Canada's central bank in February 2008 at the age of 43, Carney will continue in his post before taking up his five-year post as the first foreign national to serve as governor of Britain's 318-year-old central bank.
Carney, who received a doctorate in economics from Oxford University in 1995, "has indicated he intends to apply for British citizenship," according to a backgrounder issued Monday in London by Her Majesty's Treasury, Britain's economics and finance ministry.
Canada's central banker, who also chairs the Basel-based G20 Financial Stability Board that sets global banking rules, "is quite simply the best, most experienced and most qualified person in the world to do the job" as Bank of England governor, said George Osborne, Chancellor of the Exchequer, who oversees the Treasury, in London.
"He has done a brilliant job for the Canadian economy as its central bank Governor, avoiding big bail outs and securing growth," and is the "perfect candidate" who will bring "strong leadership and a fresh new perspective" in succeeding current Bank of England governor Sir Mervyn King, said Osborne in a statement. "We needed the best -- and in Mark Carney we've got it."
British Prime Minister David Cameron -- who recommended Carney's appointment approved by Queen Elizabeth II, the country's head of state -- was equally effusive in his praise of the Canadian.
Cameron lauded his "distinguished record on economic policy, the high regard of his international peers and the leadership he has shown on the global economic crisis make him the exceptional person for the job." Endi
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