LONDON (Reuters) - Bank of England Governor Mark Carney is leaning towards deciding to serve a full eight-year term,

despite critics calling for him not to extend his time in charge of the British central bank, according to news reports.
Carney, who has come under fire from supporters of Brexit for his stance in the EU referendum campaign, has said he will announce by the end of the year whether he will take up an option to stay at the Bank until 2021 rather than stick to his current departure date in mid-2018.
Carney is due to hold a quarterly BoE news conference on Thursday and could make an announcement on his decision then.
The Financial Times reported the Canadian, who joined the BoE in 2013, was ready to serve a full eight-year term instead of five. The BBC also said people close to Carney believed he was leaning towards staying for eight years.
Those reports contrasted with others in newspapers over the weekend that said Carney was more likely to announce that he would leave in 2018.