The political turmoil caused by Brexit has put two of the world’s leading central bankers off applying for the Bank of England governorship, according to two people close to the appointment process.
Neither Janet Yellen, former head of the US Federal Reserve, nor Raghuram Rajan, professor of economics at University of Chicago and a former governor of the Indian central bank, were part of the initial sifting process a few weeks ago.
“The Treasury couldn’t get Raghu or Janet to apply,” one person close to the process told the FT.
Philip Hammond, chancellor, said in a letter last year he was delaying finding a replacement for Mark Carney as central bank governor until “after the terms of the UK’s withdrawal [from the EU] and the framework for the future partnership have been finalised”.
The chancellor hoped that by getting Brexit out of the way, he could attract and appoint an international star that would “turn heads” at global meetings. But the continued lack of a deal meant that the next governor will be appointed while Britain is still in the middle of uncertainty over its future relationship with the EU.
People close to the process said a number of potential candidates the government had considered were not keen to get embroiled in the difficult politics of Brexit, something that is almost impossible to avoid as BoE governor. [...]
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