Mark Carney reveals he could quit as Bank of England Governor as senior Tories force him to defend his record
Canadian financier said he was considering his future with the Bank at a Lords grilling after run-in with PM Theresa May
MARK Carney has signalled he could quit as Governor of the Bank of England in 2018 following a slew of attacks from senior Tories and a run-in with Theresa May.
Defending his record at the Bank during a House of Lords grilling, the Canadian financier gave a coded departure warning.
He claimed his decision on whether to extend his contact would be “entirely personal decision” and not one made in response to “government policy”.
Mr Carney told Peers “To be absolutely clear, it’s an entirely personal decision, nobody should read into that.”
But he warned he needed time to “reflect” on his future.
After a torrent of criticism from senior Tories including Michael Gove and William Hague recently, the Bank boss was appearing at the House of Lords Economic Affairs Committee.
On Friday Mr Gove accused the him of acting like an evil Ming emperor who “flayed alive” anyone who “dared to question his rule”.
Mr Gove claimed “any criticism of his actions is regarded as a thought crime”.
It came on the back of former Foreign Secretary William Hague claiming savers were finding it “impossible to earn a worthwhile return” while Mr Carney maintained ultra-low interest rates.
The comments came in defence of criticism from Theresa May of the Bank’s policy low rates and quantitative easing, made at Conservative Party Conference earlier this month.
Mr Carney was probed on his response to claims from the PM that his monetary policy had “bad side effects” and her warning that “a change is going to come.”
Hitting back he argued “most in this economy have benefitted” from decisions made by the Bank, adding: “it is better to be in a job, than not. It is better to have income than not.”
He sarcastically claimed that the Bank have not “just decided for fun” to have lower interest rates.
And said his policy had “supported the UK economy in a difficult period of adjustment.”
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But though he was forced to concede that “some have benefited more than others” he insisted there had not been any “regression”.
Despite tumbling ahead of Mr Carney’s appearance in Parliament, the Pound staged a mini-recovery after the governor suggested that market reaction to Brexit could be “mistaken”.
He warned that Sterling was “going to move around” throughout the EU exit process and cautioned that markets may misinterpret Britain’s economic prospects as it disentangles itself from the EU.