Carney confirms intention to quit by 2019; defends policy actions

Bank of England Governor Mark Carney confirmed his intention to leave his post in 2019 irrespective of whether Brexit negotiations had been concluded by then.

Responding to questions from parliament's all-party Treasury committee, Carney said he would leave his post on 30 June 2019 after a six year term even if Brexit negotiations had not been concluded.

Prime Minister Theresa May has said she will invoke Article 50, which triggers the formal exit talks, by the end of March 2017. The process is meant to take two years from that point.

Carney said he decided to extend his tenure by only 12 months for family reasons. He initially agreed to take on the role for five years instead of the usual eight year term.

“I added the year out of a sense of responsibility to try to provide additional continuity.”

“There is a practical reality, which is I'll be separated from my family for that extra period of extension so there are limits, reasonable limits to what that would be,” he told the committee.

He also rejected criticism of central bankers by politicians unhappy with monetary policy as a “massive blame deflection exercise”.

“It’s very important to distinguish between the stance of monetary policy and the reasons why global interest rates are low, the reasons why inequality has increased across major economics,” he said.

“Those are caused by much more fundamental factors. And an excessive focus on monetary policy in many respects is a massive blame deflection exercise.”