Lagarde to leave ECB leadership post in February, months ahead of schedule
The European Central Bank president is exiting nine months early, setting off a leadership reshuffle at the Frankfurt institution.
By James Anderson ·
European Central Bank president Christine Lagarde will leave her job in February, nine months before her eight-year term was set to end in October 2027. Her departure has been the subject of speculation for months. Lagarde, 70, said earlier this year that when she agreed to take the role with French president Emmanuel Macron, she expected to serve five years rather than eight.
Her exit would mark only the second early resignation in the ECB's 28-year history. Its first head, Wim Duisenberg, stepped down after five years following a political understanding at the start of monetary union. Lagarde has held talks about chairing the World Economic Forum.
The succession is already drawing competing candidates. The Dutch government supports Klaas Knot, a former Dutch central bank governor, while Spain is backing Pablo Hernández de Cos, general manager of the Bank for International Settlements and former governor of the Bank of Spain.
The changes reach beyond the presidency. ECB executive board member Isabel Schnabel will leave in January, a year before her term ends, to take a senior role at the IMF. Chief economist Philip Lane's term expires in May. Any new executive board member needs backing from at least 16 of the 21 countries using the euro, representing 65 percent of the bloc's population.
Lagarde's tenure covered the pandemic, the war in Europe that began in 2022, the inflation shock that followed, and a trade war with the United States. Her departure arrives as inflationary pressures are building again.
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