Madar (International) - European Central Bank (ECB) President Christine Lagarde announced on Thursday, October 29, 2026, that she will leave the post on February 7, about nine months before the scheduled end of her eight-year term, Al Jazeera English reported, citing AFP and Reuters.
In a filmed statement posted on X, Lagarde said she was leaving "with a sense of good work done and an ECB that is fit for the future".
According to the same source, the move gives European Union leaders time to choose her successor before France's presidential election in April, which polls suggest far-right candidate Marine Le Pen is favoured to win. The timing could allow current European Council members, including French President Emmanuel Macron, to take part in the appointment.
Macron, who cannot run again, thanked Lagarde for "the determined action she led" during "a period marked by numerous crises", adding that the transition "must now be prepared in an orderly and balanced manner with our European partners". German MEP Markus Ferber warned that any impression the departure was timed around national elections "damages trust" in the institution.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen praised her tenure, while markets appeared unfazed, the report said.
A former French finance minister and head of the International Monetary Fund, Lagarde was appointed in October 2019 and steered the bank through the COVID-19 pandemic, Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine and the US-Israel war on Iran. Inflation is currently running at almost double the bank's 2 percent target.
Sources told AFP that leaving early would give Lagarde "greater freedom to express her views". She has hinted she could campaign in the French presidential race, saying a European voice was needed in the debate.
