Bank of Canada governor Carney tells U.K. hearing: ‘I have no political ambitions’
Posted February 7, 2013 7:31 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney says he has no political ambitions.
The outgoing governor told a parliamentary hearing in the United Kingdom on Thursday that if he had political ambitions he would pursue them in Canada, and not seek one of the most challenging central bank jobs in the world.
Carney was responding to questions from the U.K. Treasury Select committee about his appointment to head the storied Bank of England starting in July.
It was the most categorical the central banker has been since news broke that he had been approached to run for the Liberal leadership and vacationed with the Liberal finance critic last summer.
The two-hour session began with some uncomfortable questions, including why he had changed his mind about taking the job and about the substantial pay he will be receiving, including a 250,000-pound (about $390,000) a year housing allowance.
Carney says the allowance was appropriate because he was leaving one of the least expensive world capitals for one of the most expensive.
He also says he wanted to restrict his term to five years from eight because of personal reasons — after five years, his eldest daughter will be at an age to finish high school, and his second eldest will have two years to re-integrate into the French-language system in Ottawa.
