ECB President Christine Lagarde Will Step Down in February, Months Early
She leaves on February 7, about nine months before her term ends, as the bank held rates steady. European leaders begin choosing her successor now.
Christine Lagarde will step down as president of the European Central Bank on February 7, 2027, nearly nine months before her eight-year term was due to end on October 31, 2027, the bank said on Thursday, October 29. Lagarde informed the bank's Governing Council and European Council President António Costa, who said the process to choose her successor would begin immediately. The ECB gave no reason for her departure. 'It has been a great pride and a huge privilege to serve this institution,' Lagarde wrote on X.
Lagarde, 70, has led the ECB since November 2019 and previously headed the International Monetary Fund and served as France's finance minister. The timing lets European Union leaders choose her successor before France's presidential election next spring, Reuters and AFP reported. Former Dutch and Spanish central bank governors Klaas Knot and Pablo Hernández de Cos are seen as leading contenders, according to Reuters; no candidate has officially been named. Later the same day, the ECB kept its key interest rates unchanged, after raising them in June and September.
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