LONDON: British Prime Minister Theresa May has thrown her weight behind Bank of England governor Mark Carney, who faces intense speculation over his future.
Carney began his tenure in 2013, stressing his intention to serve only five years of an eight-year term for personal reasons, meaning he would step down in 2018.
But in late 2015, he refused to rule out staying for the full eight years in the run-up to the Brexit referendum in June this year.
May’s intervention came as British media was divided over Carney’s fate — with competing weekend claims over whether he was set to announce his departure amid tensions following Britain’s vote in favor of exiting the European Union.
“The prime minister has been clear in her support for the governor, the work he is doing for the country,” said May’s official spokeswoman.
“It’s clearly a decision for him but the prime minister would certainly be supportive of him going on beyond his five years.”
The Sunday Times, citing senior figures who had worked closely with the governor, reported that he was “disillusioned” with May’s Conservative government and criticism over his stance since the Brexit vote on June 23.
The Financial Times, however, said he was “ready” to serve a full eight-year term, reporting that Carney had told friends he was readying a statement to end what it called “damaging” speculation.
“The prime minister has always had a good working relationship with the governor of the Bank of England and intends to continue that,” added May’s spokeswoman.
“She recognizes the work that he’s been doing for the country and supports that, while recognizing it’s also a decision for him.
“She’s fully supportive of the work that he has done as is doing for the country.”
A Bank of England spokesman said on Monday that “nothing has changed,” adding Carney’s decision over whether to stay will be made public by the end of the year.
Under Carney’s leadership, the BoE had warned repeatedly over the potential impact of Britain’s potential departure from the European Union.
Recession
The central bank had argued in July that Britain could fall into recession as businesses delay investment decisions because of the shock June 23 referendum vote to exit the EU.
Also Monday, WPP, the world’s largest advertising group, reported a slowdown in underlying sales growth in the third quarter, saying a weaker performance in Britain perhaps showed the first impact of the country’s vote to leave the European Union.
However, the net sales growth — at 2.8 percent — still came in slightly ahead of analysts’ expectations, pushing the company’s shares up 3.9 percent to top the FTSE-100 leaderboard of UK blue-chip stocks.
CEO Martin Sorrell said the British market was a “little bit softer, maybe reflecting some of the uncertainty around Brexit” in the quarter, which started days after the UK referendum at the end of June.
WPP toned down its forecast for the year, saying both like-for-like revenue and net sales for the year would grow by “over 3 percent.” It predicted “well over 3 percent” in August.
The company’s reported revenue grew 23.4 percent to 3.6 billion pounds, with much of the rise coming from the sharp fall in the value of the pound since the Brexit vote. Sorrell said they were “false gains.”
“My view on sterling is it’s almost like the country’s stock price, and it has taken a 15-20 percent hit and I don’t think that’s good news,” he said.
WPP made around 26 percent of its revenues in Britain last year, second only to the United States.
With Britain’s future role in Europe still uncertain, the company is increasingly focusing on its four biggest markets that would remain in the bloc: Germany, France, Italy and Spain.
“We have upped our game in those four markets in the last three-to-four months post Brexit, and we will continue to,” Sorrell said.
Brexit was one of many uncertainties in the global economy, he added, resulting in a conservative environment for companies and making it difficult for ad firms to eke out growth.
“Given what’s happening in the environment, the slow growth, lack of inflation — with the exception of the UK with the devaluation of sterling — the focus on costs and the general level of uncertainty around the world, I think it’s a good performance,” he said of WPP’s third quarter.
Net sales growth was 3.8 percent in the first half of the year.
Carney began his tenure in 2013, stressing his intention to serve only five years of an eight-year term for personal reasons, meaning he would step down in 2018.
But in late 2015, he refused to rule out staying for the full eight years in the run-up to the Brexit referendum in June this year.
May’s intervention came as British media was divided over Carney’s fate — with competing weekend claims over whether he was set to announce his departure amid tensions following Britain’s vote in favor of exiting the European Union.
“The prime minister has been clear in her support for the governor, the work he is doing for the country,” said May’s official spokeswoman.
“It’s clearly a decision for him but the prime minister would certainly be supportive of him going on beyond his five years.”
The Sunday Times, citing senior figures who had worked closely with the governor, reported that he was “disillusioned” with May’s Conservative government and criticism over his stance since the Brexit vote on June 23.
The Financial Times, however, said he was “ready” to serve a full eight-year term, reporting that Carney had told friends he was readying a statement to end what it called “damaging” speculation.
“The prime minister has always had a good working relationship with the governor of the Bank of England and intends to continue that,” added May’s spokeswoman.
“She recognizes the work that he’s been doing for the country and supports that, while recognizing it’s also a decision for him.
“She’s fully supportive of the work that he has done as is doing for the country.”
A Bank of England spokesman said on Monday that “nothing has changed,” adding Carney’s decision over whether to stay will be made public by the end of the year.
Under Carney’s leadership, the BoE had warned repeatedly over the potential impact of Britain’s potential departure from the European Union.
Recession
The central bank had argued in July that Britain could fall into recession as businesses delay investment decisions because of the shock June 23 referendum vote to exit the EU.
Also Monday, WPP, the world’s largest advertising group, reported a slowdown in underlying sales growth in the third quarter, saying a weaker performance in Britain perhaps showed the first impact of the country’s vote to leave the European Union.
However, the net sales growth — at 2.8 percent — still came in slightly ahead of analysts’ expectations, pushing the company’s shares up 3.9 percent to top the FTSE-100 leaderboard of UK blue-chip stocks.
CEO Martin Sorrell said the British market was a “little bit softer, maybe reflecting some of the uncertainty around Brexit” in the quarter, which started days after the UK referendum at the end of June.
WPP toned down its forecast for the year, saying both like-for-like revenue and net sales for the year would grow by “over 3 percent.” It predicted “well over 3 percent” in August.
The company’s reported revenue grew 23.4 percent to 3.6 billion pounds, with much of the rise coming from the sharp fall in the value of the pound since the Brexit vote. Sorrell said they were “false gains.”
“My view on sterling is it’s almost like the country’s stock price, and it has taken a 15-20 percent hit and I don’t think that’s good news,” he said.
WPP made around 26 percent of its revenues in Britain last year, second only to the United States.
With Britain’s future role in Europe still uncertain, the company is increasingly focusing on its four biggest markets that would remain in the bloc: Germany, France, Italy and Spain.
“We have upped our game in those four markets in the last three-to-four months post Brexit, and we will continue to,” Sorrell said.
Brexit was one of many uncertainties in the global economy, he added, resulting in a conservative environment for companies and making it difficult for ad firms to eke out growth.
“Given what’s happening in the environment, the slow growth, lack of inflation — with the exception of the UK with the devaluation of sterling — the focus on costs and the general level of uncertainty around the world, I think it’s a good performance,” he said of WPP’s third quarter.
Net sales growth was 3.8 percent in the first half of the year.
