If you want to dispel a rumor, you’ll probably react differently. Christine Lagarde is “fully focused on its mission” and has made “no decision” about its future, the European Central Bank (ECB) said this week. She reacts with this to a report from the Financial Timesaccording to which Lagarde is considering an early withdrawal in order to give Friedrich Merz and Emmanuel Macron the chance to fill the position of head of the central bank.
Background: Lagarde’s term of office ends in October next year, and the presidential election will take place in France in April 2027. The right-wing populist Jordan Bardella from the Rassemblement National party is leading the polls. If he is in power, Bardella could use his office to attack the independence of the central bank – as Donald Trump did in the case of the US Federal Reserve Federal Reserve has done.
