Lagarde to leave European Central Bank on Feb. 7, 2027
The EU opens its search for a successor at the bank that sets euro interest rates, nine months before her term was due to end.
Christine Lagarde will step down as president of the European Central Bank (ECB) on Feb. 7, 2027. The bank announced it Thursday: Lagarde, who is French, told the Governing Council, the body that sets interest rates, and the president of the European Council about her decision.
She is leaving about nine months before her eight-year term was due to end on Oct. 31, 2027. The bank's statement does not say why.
At a news conference, Lagarde spoke of "a great pride" and "a huge privilege" to have served the institution. The Governing Council thanked her with a long ovation.
The European Council will pick her successor under Article 283 of the EU's functioning treaty. Its president, António Costa, said in a statement that the selection process begins today and will move without delay.
Hers is not the only exit at the top of the bank. Isabel Schnabel, a German economist, will leave the Executive Board for the IMF, a move the ECB confirmed in September, and chief economist Philip Lane's term ends May 31, 2027.
The ECB's decisions on eurozone interest rates move borrowing costs and the euro-dollar exchange rate, and that reaches Mexico too. Analysts expect the early departure to leave the bank's policy course unchanged.
The formal recommendation is still to come. Eurogroup President Kyriakos Pierrakakis said the group will prepare it quickly so the European Council can decide on time.
