Government ‘asks Carney to stay on at Bank to calm nerves after departure from the EU’

THE Government has asked Mark Carney to stay on as Governor of the Bank of England for an extra year in order to help calm Brexit nerves in the City, according to a report.

Mr Carney, who heads the interest rate-setting Monetary Policy Committee and regulatory authorities at the Bank, was due to leave in June 2019, just three months after the UK formally leaves the EU next March.

The report, in the Diary section of the London Evening Standard, edited by former chancellor George Osborne – who appointed Mr Carney while in office – also claimed there was a dearth of candidates to replace the Canadian.

Andrew Bailey, head of City watchdog the Financial Conduct Authority, has been tipped as a potential successor, as has Minouche Shafik, a former policymaker at the Bank and director of the London School of Economics.

Ben Broadbent, a deputy governor, is also viewed as a contender, despite having to apologise for using the word “menopausal” to describe productivity problems in the UK economy.

The potential change of plan by the Treasury surprised many in the City who understood that the advertise- ment for a replacement was being prepared for the autumn.

Mr Carney has proved controversial among some Brexit campaigners. MP Jacob Rees-mogg has labelled the Governor the “high priest of Project Fear” and claimed that the Bank’s forecasts on how Brexit might shape the UK economy were “politically motivated”.

A Treasury spokesman said: “We will begin recruitment for the next Governor of the Bank of England in due course.”

The Bank of England declined to comment on the report.