By Ananya Palyekar and Balazs Koranyi
Frankfurt — European Central Bank (ECB) president Christine Lagarde plans to leave her job before next year’s French presidential election to allow Emmanuel Macron to have an input into picking her successor, Financial Times reported on Wednesday.
Lagarde’s term is due to end in October 2027 but some fear the far right may win the French presidential race in the spring of 2027, complicating the selection for the new leader of Europe’s most important financial institution.
Citing a person familiar with the matter, FT said Lagarde has not decided on the exact timing of her departure but was keen for Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz to be the key deciders in who succeeds her. Macron cannot run for a third term.
“President Lagarde is totally focused on her mission and has not taken any decision regarding the end of her term,” an ECB spokesperson said.
The FT report comes only a week after Bank of France governor Francois Villeroy de Galhau said he would step down in June this year, more than a year before the end of his term, allowing Macron to name his replacement before the presidential election the far right could win.
While it will be up to all leaders from the 21-nation eurozone to pick Lagarde’s successor, past practice suggests any successful candidate must have German and French support to clinch the role.
There are no formal candidates for the job yet, but several names have been floating among ECB circles as potential ECB presidents. The most prominent among these are former Dutch central bank chief Klaas Knot and Bank for International Settlements general manager Pablo Hernandez de Cos.
Lagarde’s non-renewable term at the ECB runs until October 31 2027. Before heading the ECB, she was MD of the International Monetary Fund from 2011 to 2019, and before she was French finance minister.
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