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U.K. Government Plays Down Reports Carney to Stay Longer at BOE

Carney Is in Talks With U.K. to Extend BOE Tenure, BBC Reports

(Bloomberg) -- Bank of England Governor Mark Carney is still expected to leave the central bank in 2019, according to a U.K. government spokesman.

“The governor has said that he intends to step down in 2019. That is still the plan,” spokesman James Slack told reporters in London. Asked if the government would like him stay, he said “the Prime Minister thinks the governor has done a good job.”

The BBC reported on Monday that Carney is in talks with the U.K. Treasury about staying in the role beyond his planned departure date of June next year amid concern that trying to find a new governor in the midst of Brexit negotiations would be difficult. The 53 year-old Canadian had signaled that he may be open to extending his tenure at the central bank, according to a report by the Financial Times published Sunday.

A BOE spokesman declined to comment. Carney will likely be asked about his plans when he appears before Treasury Committee lawmakers in London on Tuesday.

U.K. Government Plays Down Reports Carney to Stay Longer at BOE

Questions about Carney’s future emerged last week after the Evening Standard newspaper reported that he had been approached to lengthen his term by an additional year to provide further continuity after Britain leaves the European Union in March. While the U.K. Treasury last week denied it, saying it didn’t recognize the reporting, it prompted calls for the governor to clarify his position.

Read more: How Mark Carney is preparing for Brexit

Carney’s tenure has been unorthodox from the start. He was appointed to the role in late 2012 after previously saying he wasn’t interested in the job, but initially said he would serve just five years of what is usually an eight-year term. Following Britain’s 2016 Brexit vote, he agreed to remain in place an additional year to the end of June 2019, to help steer the BOE through the negotiations.

--With assistance from Jessica Shankleman, Jill Ward and Robert Hutton.

To contact the reporter on this story: Lucy Meakin in London at lmeakin1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Paul Gordon at pgordon6@bloomberg.net, Brian Swint, Zoe Schneeweiss

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