Christine Lagarde may be appointed as President of the European Central Bank (ECB) on 1 November. The EU finance ministers formally agreed in Brussels to the nomination of the current IMF director to succeed Mario Draghi. EU leaders had named the 60-year-old Frenchwoman last week as “the right candidate” for the position.
There is now a consultation round with the ECB administration and the European Parliament must also agree with Lagarde. At the end of October, if everything goes as expected, she will be definitively appointed by the EU leaders.
Draghi leaves the bank in Frankfurt after a period of eight years. Lagarde becomes the first woman to take up the presidency at the ECB. Some critics state that the former finance minister, who is a lawyer by nature, has insufficient knowledge of monetary matters. According to the Luxembourg minister Pierre Gramegna, however, she “definitely has the qualities” to lead the bank, he said.
Lagarde has transferred its duties to the IMF pending its definitive appointment. Europe is now looking for a successor for Lagarde in Washington.
Nicholas de Krammer, а self-taught economic analytic with heave mathematical background. Math behind the economics (and economics behind math) is the strong side of the author. Contact him at nicholas.dekramer@economicinform.com