ECB’s Draghi Rejects Idea of IMF Job Swap With Lagarde
European finance ministers have given themselves an end of July deadline to settle on a pick for new IMF chief.
(Bloomberg) -- Mario Draghi rejected the idea of a job swap with Christine Lagarde when the former International Monetary Fund chief succeeds him at the European Central Bank later this year.
“Of course I’m very honored by that but I am not available, so it’s not an issue,” he told journalists on Thursday when asked about reports that France was pushing to nominate him to lead the IMF.
European finance ministers struggling to agree on a candidate for the IMF and have given themselves an end of July deadline to settle on a pick. Names floated include Jeroen Dijsselbloem of the Netherlands, Nadia Calvino of Spain and Bank of England Governor Mark Carney. Draghi’s move to the IMF would always have been a stretch as the fund’s rules demand that incoming heads are no older than 65 -- Draghi turns 72 in September.
Speaking at the same news conference in Frankfurt, Draghi attempted to sweep aside any doubts over Lagarde taking over from him, vaunting her experience.
“She’ll be an outstanding president of the ECB,” Draghi says, noting that he’s been working with Lagarde longer than either would care to remember.
The current ECB chief indicated it doesn’t matter that Lagarde isn’t a trained economist because she will be surrounding by legions of specialists advising her and will rely on debate with other policy makers at the central bank.
“If you think about the IMF, it’s collegial, it uses vast input of staff and economists,” Draghi says. “It isn’t much different from what we do at the ECB.”
As for his own plans, Draghi was non-committal: “I haven’t come to a determination of what I will be doing in the future.”
--With assistance from Lucy Meakin, Olivia Konotey-Ahulu, David Goodman, Jill Ward and Catherine Bosley.
To contact the reporter on this story: William Horobin in Paris at whorobin@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Fergal O'Brien at fobrien@bloomberg.net, Zoe Schneeweiss, Brian Swint
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