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BOE’s Carney Is Bookmaker’s Favorite to Take Top Job at the IMF

Former Reserve Bank of India governor Raghuram Rajan is also being considered as one of the frontrunners to replace Carney.

BOE’s Carney Is Bookmaker’s Favorite to Take Top Job at the IMF
Mark Carney, governor of the Bank of England (BOE), gestures while speaking following a Bloomberg Television interview at the bank’s headquarters in the City of London, U.K. (Photographer: Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg)

(Bloomberg) -- Bank of England Governor Mark Carney is the favorite to replace Christine Lagarde as managing director of the International Monetary Fund, according to an online oddsmaker.

The Canadian, due to leave the BOE in January, is placed at 7-to-2 to take the IMF job, according to Betway. Lagarde was this week nominated as president of the European Central Bank, and is due to take up the role when Mario Draghi leaves on Oct. 31.

“Though he was born in Canada, Carney meets the criteria by holding an Irish passport and having British citizenship, while his expected departure from the Bank of England in January looks well-timed,” said Betway’s Alan Alger.

Former Reserve Bank of India governor Raghuram Rajan, also considered as one of the frontrunners to replace Carney, is the second favorite at 9-to-2, while former U.K. Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne and ex-Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen are both seen as 25-to-1 outsiders.

Other potential candidates to succeed Lagarde include Bank for International Settlements head Agustin Carstens, Monetary Authority of Singapore Chairman Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam, Credit Suisse Group AG Chief Executive Officer Tidjane Thiam and Mohamed El-Erian, the former chief executive of Pacific Investment Management Co. and a Bloomberg Opinion columnist.

To contact the reporter on this story: David Goodman in London at dgoodman28@bloomberg.net

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

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