ECB president Christine Lagarde is said to be picking up German in order to try appease lawmakers and policymakers to get on her side
Before Lagarde even took up her post, she already got questioned by German lawmaker, Joachim Schuster, in his native tongue about her policy decisions; to which she replied "One day, maybe I will be able to explain negative interest rates in German".
And it certainly looks like she is taking it quite seriously as she is said to have even gotten a tutor to help with her German language proficiency.
Compared to her predecessor, Mario Draghi, at least she appears to be trying something new. But learning the language and winning over German lawmakers and policymakers are two very different issues and the achieving the former is no guarantee of the latter.
Germany has been a standout in criticising the ECB and their policies over the years and there is no doubt that Lagarde is hoping to try and bridge that divide so as to achieve a more harmonious mood within the ECB governing council.
But she faces quite an uphill task even if she manages to somehow communicate in German in a proficient manner, as she also needs to expand on her central bank knowledge as well. Combining both makes it a really tough challenge and she may struggle with it.
At the end of the day, I wouldn't expect her to bring about robust changes to the central bank - despite her good intentions. There are some things that are just not going to change no matter what happens and as long as negative rates still persist, don't expect Germany to get on the good books of the ECB any time soon.
