U.K. Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond gave his backing to Mark Carney and said he’d welcome a decision by the Canadian to remain in his role as Bank of England governor.
The governor has less than 90 days before a self-imposed year-end deadline to say whether he wants to serve a full eight-year term through 2021, or leave in 2018 as originally planned. While Carney has drawn criticism from some lawmakers for his handling of the U.K.’s decision to leave the European Union, Hammond said that the BOE’s actions helped smooth the economy’s progress after the vote in June.
“The governor’s doing a good job,” Hammond said in a Bloomberg Television interview in New York. “He will make his decision in due course and that’s his decision, he made that very clear, but I certainly would welcome his decision to stay if that is the decision he makes.”
Hammond’s comments come as the political view of central bank policies that drive interest rates lower has sounded increasingly critical. Prime Minister Theresa May said Wednesday that ultra-loose monetary policy had some “bad side effects” and increased inequality.
