Mark Carney takes the lead at the Bank of England

Mark Carney today took over as the governor of the Bank of England, becoming the first  foreign governor of the central bank, which is over 300 years old. Carney is taking the place of Sir Mervyn King who has led the bank throughout the financial crisis which began in 2008.

While the Canadian is walking into an extremely tough job, the British economy is now in a much stronger position than when he initially accepted the job. The Bank of England currently has committed £375 billion to its monetary stimulus programs in a bid to spark of the British economy back into life, in addition to slashing the interest rates to previously unseen levels. It is widely expected that if the UK stays on track, it will be Mark Carney who brings these measures to a close and lead to the UK out of recession.

Until recently, Mr Carney was the governor of the Bank of Canada, Canada’s central bank, where he helped mitigate the effects of the financial crisis and keep the North American country as far away from the trouble as possible. His first major position with the institution was deputy governor, a role which he assumed in 2003 before moving into the position of senior associate deputy minister of finance, working directly for the Canadian government.

In a somewhat unusual move, Mr Carney has said that he will not run the full eight-year term that usually comes with the position of governor at the Bank of England. Instead he will step down in 2018 after a five-year stint at the head of the institution. If current targets are met then the UK should be bringing its current budget cuts to an end, beginning its journey to a long term recovery.

Sir Mervyn King stepped down last week after 10 years in charge of the Bank of England. Sir Mervyn had overseen (what many hope to be) the worst of the financial crisis and was praised by financial leaders and politicians alike for his service.