Christine Lagarde intends to serve out her full eight-year time period as president of the European Central Bank (ECB), the financial institution introduced on Wednesday, following a Financial Times report suggesting she had mentioned stepping down early to take the helm of the World Economic Forum.
The newspaper mentioned Lagarde, who nonetheless has greater than two years left in her mandate, has held talks about taking on on the WEF for years and final met former WEF head Klaus Schwab in April to debate a succession plan.
Schwab was quoted as saying Lagarde, who’s on the WEF’s board of trustees, was on the middle of their plans to nominate a brand new head, they usually had mentioned timelines and even sensible preparations, together with lodging for Lagarde.
Asked to touch upon the report, an ECB spokesperson mentioned, “President Lagarde has always been fully committed to deliver on her mission and is determined to complete her term.”
Asked for touch upon the Financial Times report, a WEF spokesperson mentioned: “The WEF is not in any position to comment on possible confidential discussions that may have taken place between our former chairman and Madame Lagarde.”
Lagarde’s non-renewable time period on the ECB runs till October 31, 2027. Prior to heading the ECB, Lagarde was managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) from 2011 to 2019 and earlier than that, French finance minister.
Schwab, the WEF’s founder, resigned with instant impact final month and the group mentioned it launched an investigation into his affairs following a whistleblower letter alleging misconduct.
Schwab denies the allegations.
A spokesperson for Schwab confirmed the accuracy of his remarks to the FT and mentioned he had nothing additional so as to add to them.
Source: www.dailysabah.com