Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney says he's definitely not interested in becoming head of the Bank of England, a job that comes available next year.

It has been rumoured that Carney was asked about taking over the position, but he has denied he has ever been formally approached about it.

But in an interview airing Thursday on BBC World News' HARDtalk program, he said: "I'm very focused on my post at the Bank of Canada and the Financial Stability Board, and I look forward to working with the new or the next governor of the Bank of England."

Asked if he was discounting ever considering the job, he responded yes.

Suggestions that Carney may consider the Bank of England job aren't without merit, considering his wife is British and he once worked in London for Goldman Sachs.

Praises Canada's banking system

The Canadian central bank governor told the BBC it's important to restore confidence in the international banking system.

Last year, he was appointed head of the Swiss-based Financial Stability Board overseeing global banking reform, and Time magazine once named him one of world's 25 most influential people.

Carney told the BBC that the board not only designs new rules for financial institutions, but will blow the whistle on banks that don't comply with reforms designed to prevent a repeat of the 2008 global financial crisis.

But he said he believes that so far, financial institutions are complying with the new rules.

Carney also praised Canada's banking system, calling it "one of the strongest in the world."

"[As for] the issues in our property market and in household debt, they have both been increasing over the course of the recession that the U.K. and others have been in because there's no export market, and that's where growth has come from in Canada.

"So what have we done? We have tightened the regulations around lending into property four times," Carney said.

In fact, he said, Canada's banks will be able to meet the 2019 Basel capital requirements by Jan. 1, six years ahead of time.

Carney said raising interest rates in Canada is still a possibility, if economic growth strengthens, but he added a rate hike is unlikely in the short term.

With files from The Canadian Press