The next head of the Bank of England (BoE) has been revealed, with Andrew Bailey, the current Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to take Mark Carney’s place.
Andrew Bailey, CEO of the FCA
Source: BBC
Bailey will take the reins of the central bank on May 16, the chancellor, Sajid Javid, announced. In order to ensure a smoother transition, Carney has extended his term, which was scheduled to conclude at the end of January next year.
Unlike Carney, Bailey has agreed to serve a full eight-year term. He joins the Bank of England at a difficult time, with Brexit now all but guaranteed to happen at the end of January with the recent re-election of Boris Johnson.
Bailey of the Bank is the most able and competent BoE official I worked with: by far the steadiest under fire in the financial crisis. He won't make waves unnecessarily. But his all round experience will help to steady economic policy at a challenging time for the UK. #goodtimes https://t.co/L0hdKu0Vsd
— Nick Macpherson (@nickmacpherson2) December 19, 2019
Commenting on the appointment, Nick Macpherson, the former head of the UK Treasury, said on Twitter today: “Bailey is the most able and competent BOE official I worked with: by far the steadiest under fire in the financial crisis. He won’t make waves unnecessarily. But his all-round experience will help to steady economic policy at a challenging time.”
In fact, due to Bailey’s experience and largely uncontroversial political stance, he has been viewed as a safe option to lead the British central bank. He has also had extensive experience as a former deputy governor at the BoE.
Andrew Bailey takes the BoE reins at a difficult time
It goes without saying that Bailey is inheriting the leading position at a difficult time. Because of Brexit, he will be taking the reins at the same time output for the economy has achieved the worst performance in a decade.
The appointment of Bailey is not a large surprise for the market, as he was the favorite to replace Mark Carney, as was reported by multiple media outlets. However, there was speculation that Minouche Shafik, a former deputy governor, would get the job. Bailey will receive £495,000 ($645,000) a year, and as of yet, his benefits package hasn’t been revealed.
