ECB President Christine Lagarde to Step Down Early on February 7, 2027; ECB Holds Deposit Rate at 2.50%
The European Central Bank (ECB) announced in Frankfurt on October 29 that President Christine Lagarde had informed the Governing Council and European Council President António Costa that she will step down on February 7, 2027, about nine months before the end of her term.
Lagarde took office on November 1, 2019, for a non-renewable eight-year term that was scheduled to run until October 31, 2027. Her early departure means she will hand over after just over seven years at the helm. The ECB said the Governing Council thanked her warmly and gave her a long standing ovation.
European Council President Costa said the process to appoint her successor would be initiated the same day and proceed without delay, with a view to a timely decision by the European Council acting in its euro area composition, to ensure a smooth transition. Former Dutch central bank governor Klaas Knot and former Spanish central bank governor Pablo Hernández de Cos are widely seen as frontrunners to succeed her.
On the same day as the resignation announcement, the ECB held its monetary policy meeting and kept its three key interest rates unchanged: the deposit facility rate at 2.50%, the main refinancing operations rate at 2.65%, and the marginal lending facility rate at 2.90%. The ECB has raised rates twice earlier this year.
In its rate statement, the ECB said energy prices have continued to rise, posing upside risks to the inflation outlook and downside risks to the growth outlook, while financing conditions have tightened since the Governing Council's last meeting and are likely to weigh on inflation and growth. The Governing Council reiterated its commitment to ensuring that inflation stabilises at its 2% target in the medium term.
Markets reacted calmly to the resignation news: the euro eased about 0.3% while European shares rose. Analysts noted that the early timing allows current EU leaders to appoint a successor well before France's 2027 presidential election. As for Lagarde's next move, the World Economic Forum has been rumored as a possible destination, but no official appointment has been announced.
Lagarde, 70, served as France's finance minister and, from 2011 to 2019, as managing director of the International Monetary Fund, the first woman to hold that post. At the ECB since 2019, she has steered euro-area monetary policy through the pandemic-era easing, the rate-hiking cycle that began in 2022, and the recent energy price shock.
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 欧洲央行行长拉加德官方肖像，欧洲央行（ECB）官方照片、仅需署名授权，经 Wikimedia Commons 取得
