Lagarde's trip to the WEF sparks debate: does the countdown for the ECB's “early change of head” begin?

The Zhitong Finance App learned that ECB President Christine Lagarde will travel to Geneva next week to attend an event at the World Economic Forum (WEF) headquarters. This trip may once again trigger speculation from the outside world that she will step down early.

According to the ECB's public schedule released on Friday, Lagarde is scheduled to participate in a panel discussion on the global economy next Wednesday.

Although such public appearances are not uncommon, rumors have continued since last year that Lagarde may leave office early before her eight-year term expires in October 2027, due to reports that she may take over the World Economic Forum.

At the time, Lagarde downplayed related rumors and promised to complete his term at the ECB, although forum founder Klaus Schwab revealed that Lagarde did discuss with him the possibility of stepping down as ECB president and succeeding him as forum chairman.

Lagarde is currently a member of the World Economic Forum's board of directors, and this status makes her officially eligible to run for leadership positions in the organization. The board of directors is scheduled to hold an offline meeting in Geneva next Tuesday. According to reports, the focus of the meeting at that time will focus on the future development direction of the forum. The schedule announced by the ECB does not indicate whether Lagarde will attend.

Speculations about Lagarde leaving office early continue to ferment, partly due to her own statements. Just last month, she did not clearly state that she would stay in office until the end of her term, and this event, which will be unveiled this month, made the outside world even more imaginative.

Although the World Economic Forum — famous for its annual event in Davos — is still widely regarded as one of Lagarde's possible destinations, recently she has not ruled out the possibility of participating in French politics, saying she will serve the public “in the most effective role.”

In September of this year, a few months before the French presidential election, Lagarde plans to attend the annual political rally hosted by Hervais Morin, president of the Normandy region and leader of the centrist political party “Center Party”.

Moran and Lagarde have held key positions under then-President Nicolas Sarkozy since 2007. Moran headed the Ministry of Defense for three years, and Lagarde was initially responsible for agriculture and fishery affairs, then promoted to Minister of Finance. In 2011, she left the French government to become the Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund.

An ECB spokesperson declined to comment on Lagarde's activities in France and his attendance at the World Economic Forum board meeting.

Discussions about Lagarde's possible early departure have also gradually heated up the dispute over succession candidates.

Last week, the Dutch government officially nominated former Dutch central bank governor Klaas Nott as the country's candidate, and Germany is also evaluating whether to nominate Bundesbank Governor Joachim Nagel for election.

The Spanish side has also expressed its will to support the candidacy of Pablo Hernandez Decos, the former governor of the Bank of Spain and the current president of the Bank for International Settlements. According to the survey, economists expect Decos to win the competition and get ahead of Nott, but they don't rule out unexpected candidates at the last minute like Lagarde did back then.