The angling for ECB President is underway
Draghi started his 8-year term as President in October 2011 and he will depart in November 2019 so the race to replace him is well underway.
It's a highly politicized race and the betting favourite is probably Bundesbank President Jens Weidmann. Previous presidents have been from the Netherlands (Duisenberg), France (Trichet) and Italy (Draghi), so the Germans are saying it's their turn. Weidmann has also been positioning himself as more of a centrist than the usual German crowd, likely in an effort to win over the countries that are wary of the notorious hawkishness at the Bundesbank.
Other candidates could be the Bank of Spain's Linde, Finland's Liikanen or ECB executive board members Coeure, Lautenschlager, Mersch or Praet.
Other comments from Villeroy:
- Happy about latest eurozone data improvement
- Eurozone inflation still below target but much better than 18 months ago
