. . . AND WILL BANK OF ENGLAND HIRE FIRST FEMALE GOVERNOR?
THE Bank of England could be led by a woman for the first time in its 325-year history.
Former deputy governor Dame Minouche Shafik is said to be the government’s favoured candidate to succeed Mark Carney when he leaves at the end of January.
However, no appointment is expected to be made before the general election on December 12, meaning the race is still open.
The Bank’s governor is one of the most powerful positions in the UK with responsibility for the health of the banking system, financial stability and for setting interest rates.
According to the BBC, Egyptian-born Shafik is the top choice of Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Chancellor Sajid Javid. Other names in the frame include another former deputy governor, Sir Paul Tucker, Santander UK chairman Baroness Shriti Vadera, Financial Conduct Authority chief Andrew Bailey and current deputy governors Ben Broadbent and Sir Jon Cunliffe.
The Bank, which was established in 1694 and is known as the Old Lady of Threadneedle Street, has never had a female governor.
Shafik, 57, was deputy governor from 2014 to 2017 before taking a job as head of the London School of Economics. She previously had stints at the World Bank and International Monetary Fund and served as permanent secretary to the UK government’s Department for International Development. Born in Alexandria, Egypt, her family had to flee when she was just four to escape General Nasser’s nationalisations in the 1960s. They fled to America after being robbed of their possessions.
Shafik, who speaks English, Arabic and French, used to be married to multi-millionaire Mohamed El-Erian, the former boss of Pimco, the world’s largest bond house. In 2002, she married Raffael Jovine, with whom she had twins, and is also stepmother to his three daughters.
Carney, a Canadian, joined the Bank in 2013 but is leaving at the end of January having already extended his stay.