Oct. 29 (Bloomberg) -- The Bank of Canada said Senior Deputy Governor Paul Jenkins will leave the central bank when his seven-year term ends in April 2010.

Jenkins, 61, began in the Ottawa-based bank’s research department in 1972, and was a deputy governor for 10 years before his promotion to the No. 2 job.

“My immediate focus remains on my duties as senior deputy governor -- supporting economic recovery in Canada through the bank’s monetary policy and financial stability objectives, and managing the bank,” Jenkins said, according to a statement provided by bank spokesman Jeremy Harrison. Jenkins isn’t available for interviews, Harrison said.

Jenkins is the longest-serving member of the Governing Council that sets interest rates, and a majority of economists surveyed by Bloomberg News in 2007 had picked him to replace David Dodge as the bank’s governor when Dodge retired. The bank’s panel works by consensus and doesn’t publish minutes or voting records, making it difficult to judge the views of individual members on the economy.

“Paul has been there for a long time, a very steady hand on the policy lever,” said Craig Wright, chief economist at Royal Bank of Canada, the country’s biggest bank by assets.

The new senior deputy probably won’t bring “dramatic change” to the central bank whether a deputy governor is promoted or an outside candidate is hired, Wright said.

Jenkins has been responsible for overseeing the bank’s communications for more than 13 years, a period when former governors Gordon Thiessen and Dodge tried to make the bank and its monetary policy more open and understandable.

Born in St. Catharines, Ontario, Jenkins has a master’s degree in economics from the London School of Economics and Political Science. He and his wife Sheila have three children.

“Throughout his career, Paul has exemplified the values of the bank,” Governor Mark Carney said in a statement.

A panel has been created to nominate a replacement. The candidate would need to be approved by Canada’s Cabinet, following a search process that will conclude by February. The job’s current pay range is C$283,900 ($266,300) to C$334,000 a year.

To contact the reporter on this story: Greg Quinn in Ottawa at gquinn1@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: October 29, 2009 16:25 EDT