The president of the European Central Bank (ECB), Christine Lagarde, has revealed that she is considering the option of leaving the institution a few months before her term ends, scheduled for October 2027. An advance in her departure would accelerate the struggle for her replacement, in which the current general director of the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) and former governor of the Bank of Spain, Pablo Hernández de Cos, is among the best positioned.
"I do not rule out the possibility of leaving a few months before my term ends, but I have not announced anything concrete and one thing is certain: in 2027 I will still be here. So, if I leave early, it will only be a matter of a few months. It is not going to change the world," she explained this Wednesday during an interview granted to the newspaper 'Le Croix'.
With these words, Lagarde has left the door open to an early withdrawal, but she has also clearly addressed the hypothesis of running in the French presidential elections in April 2027. The latest polls point to a probable second round between Marine Le Pen, leader of the far-right National Rally, and the far-left leader of La France Insoumise, Jean-Luc Mélenchon.
"That would not be a good idea at all. It is not the same job. First of all, there is a question of vitality, energy, and strength. Moreover, this type of commitment entails certain types of inevitable sacrifices. I am 70 years old," she elaborated.
Despite ruling herself out for the Élysée, Lagarde took the opportunity to criticize Mélenchon's proposal to address the problem of public debt through its cancellation and non-payment, calling it "technically uncertain and financially very dangerous."
The leader, known as the 'guardian of the euro', has warned that a strategy of this type would cause investors to stop financing France's fiscal deficit or, in the best-case scenario, only do so by demanding extremely burdensome conditions. She also emphasized that this path would be illegal, as it would conflict with the Treaties of the European Union.