Christine Lagarde resigns from the presidency of the European Central Bank (ECB)

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https://cryptoast.fr/christine-lagarde-demissionne-presidente-bce-fevrier-2027/

Christine Lagarde informed the Governing Council of the European Central Bank, as well as the President of the European Council António Costa, that she would leave her role as president of the supranational institution on February 7, 2027, instead of October 31, 2027, which was the planned date of the end of her mandate.

In a message published on X a few minutes after the official press release, the President of the ECB spoke in a short video. “It has been a source of great pride to serve this institution. I thank everyone who has supported me on this journey over the past seven years,” she said.

I have just informed my colleagues that I will step down as @ECB President on February 7, 2027.

It has been a source of great pride to serve this institution.

I thank all of those who have supported me on this journey over the past seven years. pic.twitter.com/eSLLTaDAej

Having taken office in November 2019, Christine Lagarde leaves behind a mandate dominated by the worst inflationary crisis in the history of the euro zone. Annual inflation (HICP) peaked at 10.6% in October 2022, an absolute record since the creation of the single currency, driven by the surge in energy prices linked to the conflict in Ukraine. After two years of calm (in 2024 and 2025), inflation started to rise again in 2026, reaching 3.8% year-on-year in September, well beyond the ECB's 2% target.

This departure of Christine Lagarde is far from being a total surprise. As early as February 2026, rumors were reporting an early resignation of the President of the ECB, potentially linked to French political arbitrations in the run-up to the 2027 presidential election.

Because the choice of February 7, 2027 is not insignificant: by leaving on this date, Christine Lagarde is leaving her post almost 9 months before the official expiration of her mandate (scheduled for October 31, 2027), and especially 2 months before the first round of the French presidential election, set for April 18, 2027.

Many observers, such as the journalist Étienne Campion de Marianne, point out that this calendar “allows the French president to influence” the choice of Christine Lagarde’s successor, “before a possible arrival of Marine Le Pen to power”. This departure is also part of a sequence of recomposition at the top of European monetary institutions, after the resignation of François Villeroy de Galhau from the post of governor of the Bank of France (BdF) in February 2026, when he should also have ended his mandate in October 2027, after the presidential election.

Machine-translated from French