European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde on Thursday pushed back against suggestions that she may vacate her post early to preside over the World Economic Forum, the glitzy annual gathering of elite international bankers in the Swiss Alps.
“I can very firmly [say] that I have always been fully determined to deliver on my mission and I’m determined to complete my term, so I regret to tell you that you’re not about to see the back of me,” Lagarde told a press conference in Frankfurt following Thursday’s monetary policy decision.
The response comes a week after German financier Klaus Schwab caused embarrassment for Lagarde by revealing in an interview plans to have her succeed him at the helm of the WEF.
Schwab, who quit the organization in April amid an investigation into his conduct, told the Financial Times that he and Lagarde had discussed her jumping ship before the conclusion of her term at the ECB in 2027, and asserted that an apartment had been reserved for her in the WEF’s Villa Mundi complex on the shores of Lake Geneva.
In its initial response, the ECB had said Lagarde “has always been fully committed to deliver on her mission and is determined to complete her term,” a message it also circulated internally, according to two ECB officials familiar with the matter.
But the carefully phrased statement didn’t exclude the possibility that Lagarde may, at least at an early stage, have entertained the idea of leaving before the end of her term.
At least some of the staff at the 5,000-strong institution were miffed by the perceived affront.
Questions over the former IMF chief’s ambitions have swirled ever since she took the helm of the ECB at the end of 2019, amid rumors that she didn’t care for monetary policy and would prefer a more political role. Such rumors have not been dispelled by repeated speeches on grand geopolitical themes that have gone well beyond the normal boundaries of monetary policy.
It “kinda reinforces the idea she’s using the ECB as a stepping stone,” one bank employee told POLITICO. Another user, writing on the bank’s internal message board, asked sourly what it said about the prestige and stature of the central bank if its head is considering “leaving it for an event management company.”
ECB staff told POLITICO that no one at the bank had raised the issue at a town hall meeting earlier this week. However, “in the canteen, over coffee etc., everybody’s gossiping about this,” one staffer said.
On Thursday, Lagarde — wearing a pendant that said “In Charge” — sought to downplay the significance of the claims, which she described as “far less important than the future of the economy and the future of our monetary policy.”
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