Canada may well have a new top banker before the day is out.
Finance Minister Jim Flaherty will name a replacement for current Bank of Canada Governor Mark Carney after markets close Thursday, multiple news sources report.
Senior Deputy Governor Tiff Macklem is seen as the front-runner, but other possibles include Export Development Canada CEO Stephen Poloz and Stanford University finance professor Darrell Duffie, the Financial Post reports.
Macklem "is seen as a steady hand who will carry on with the policies set under Mr. Carney," the Globe and Mail reports.
Carney, who has been called a "superstar" of central banking since Canada sailed through the financial crisis of recent years relatively unscathed, is leaving his position at the BoC early to take up the job of Bank of England governor.
He leaves Canada at a time of high risk for the economy, with commodity prices under serious downward pressure and a tottering housing market, both of which could bring economic pain to the country. Global investors have recently started betting heavily against the Canadian dollar, the housing market and Canada's banks.
But real GDP data from the Bank of Canada this week revealed the economy is growing slightly better than expected, with the economy growing 0.3 per cent in February.
The most recent edition of Bloomberg's strongest banks ranking shows Canadian banks continue to dominate the top 10, but have slipped slightly from previous years.
Unemployment grew to 7.2 per cent in March, with Canada losing a whopping 54,500 jobs during the period.
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