By NOELA EBOB BISONG
Christine Lagarde, managing director of the International Monetary Fund was on Tuesday, July 2, 2019, nominated president of the European Central Bank.
Lagarde’s nomination was announced in a tweet by European Council president Donald Tusk, following a meeting between leaders that had lasted since Sunday. While her appointment still needs to be confirmed by the European Parliament, Tuesday’s vote, from the heads of European states, is the first step and the nomination sets her up to be the first female head of European monetary policy.
Reacting to her nomination, Lagarde said in a statement on Tuesday that “I am honored to have been nominated for the presidency of the European Central Bank”. She went on to say that she will temporarily suspend her activity at the IMF while the nomination process is on: “In light of this, and in consultation with the ethics committee of the IMF Executive Board, I have decided to temporarily relinquish my responsibilities as managing director of the IMF during the nomination period.”
Lagarde would succeed current ECB president Mario Draghi, who has headed the organization since 2011 and whose term ends on October 31. Draghi leaves the position amid uncertainty for the Euro and European monetary policy; he has signaled interest rate cuts and a quantitative easing programme despite the lowest unemployment levels in a decade and inflation running at barely half the ECB’s goal of 2%.
Having served her first five-year term, Christine Lagarde was re-appointed in July 2016 for a second term. A national of France, she was previously French Finance Minister from June 2007 to July 2011, and had also served as France’s Minister of State for Foreign Trade for two years.
As the managing director of the IMF-its first female head-Lagarde sits at the helm of an organization of 189 countries that works to ensure the stability of the global monetary system, promote international trade and economic growth and reduce poverty. It possesses $1 trillion in lending power for its members.