Finance
Minister Jim Flaherty reached into
his own department Thursday to
appoint Mark Carney as the next
governor of the Bank of Canada.
Carney,
42, is currently senior
associate deputy minister of
finance. Before that posting, he was a
deputy governor of the Bank of
Canada. He has also served as Canada's
finance deputy at the G7.
Carney
will join the Bank of Canada on Nov.
1 as adviser to the governor, a
position he will occupy until he
assumes the governor's role on
Feb. 1, 2008.
His
appointment comes as a surprise.
Most analysts had expected that Paul
Jenkins, the Bank of Canada's senior
deputy governor, would get the job.
Flaherty
said his adviser would do well in
his new job. "We're confident
he will provide a steady hand to
help maintain the stability of
Canada's monetary system,"
Flaherty said at a news conference.
Carney
will succeed David Dodge, who has
overseen Canada's monetary policy
since 2000. Dodge indicated in April
that he would not seek a second term
as the head of the bank.
A
native of Fort Smith, N.W.T., Carney
received a bachelor's degree in
economics from Harvard University in
1988. He received a master's degree
in economics in 1993 and a doctorate
in economics in 1995, both from
Oxford University.
He
worked at Goldman Sachs for 13
years, rising to the post of
managing director.
Carney
told reporters he believes he brings
policy experience, academic training
and varied private sector
experience to his new job.
He
told a news conference he would
maintain the bank's
inflation-fighting focus.
"The
fundamental priority is to achieve
the core objective of the bank,
which is low, stable, predictable
inflation — under the
auspices of the current accord, two
per cent, at the centre of the
band," he said.
Analysts
said his experience in capital
markets will prove of great benefit
in his new job, given the strong
Canadian dollar, its effect on
manufacturing and the liquidity
crisis that has rattled the markets
recently.
"We
need someone of his experience to be
able to help ... guide us through
this maze," said Kathryn Del
Greco, senior investment advisor at
TD Waterhouse.
"I
think it will be a very good fit for
Canada."
Most
recently, Carney played a major role
in helping financial institutions deal
with fallout from the credit crunch.
