Ex-central banker Carney backs Trudeau to lead Liberals in Canada's next election

Reuters
Sun, January 28, 2024 

Mark Carney, governor of the Bank of England (BOE) 

attends a news conference at Bank Of England in London

(Reuters) - Former central bank Governor Mark Carney on Sunday said he supported Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau leading the Liberal Party into the next federal election, quashing speculation that Carney would mount his own leadership bid.

Canada will hold an election by the end of 2025 and current polling suggests the Liberals would be clobbered by the opposition Conservatives if the vote were held today, fuelling speculation the Liberals may look to replace Trudeau after nearly nine years as prime minister.

Last week, Liberal lawmaker Ken McDonald called for a leadership review in an interview, before walking back his comments.

Carney, a former Bank of England and Bank of Canada governor, has been touted as a potential successor and in November said he had not ruled out a future leadership run.

However, in an interview with Canadian broadcaster CTV on Sunday, Carney said he backed Trudeau.

"In the near term, the prime minister is going to be the leader of the Liberal Party in the next election...and I support him," Carney said.

The prime minister's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

(Reporting by Nia Williams in British Columbia; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)

Canada cap on international students should help ease rent pressure -BoC governor

Reuters
Fri, January 26, 2024 

OTTAWA, Jan 26 (Reuters) - Canada's move to cap the number of international students should help address the challenge of rising rents, Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem told the Canadian Press in an interview published on Friday.

Canada, seeking to rein in a surge of newcomers that has exacerbated a housing crisis, on Monday announced an immediate, two-year cap on permits for international students and said it would stop allowing some students to work after graduation.

"You saw this week the government capping student visas," the Canadian Press cited Macklem as saying. "That, I think, will help take a bit of pressure off rents going forward."

The central bank on Wednesday expressed concern that high shelter prices could put upward pressure on inflation for some time. Although the overall annual inflation rate in December was 3.4%, shelter-price inflation remained elevated at 7% due to a housing shortage, higher mortgage payments and rental costs.

(Reporting by David Ljunggren; editing by Jonathan Oatis)