EIB chief Calvino rules herself out of ECB running

By Marc Jones

LONDON, June 16 (Reuters) - The head of the European Investment Bank, Nadia Calvino, said on Tuesday she was not a candidate to replace Christine Lagarde as President of the European Central Bank when Lagarde's term ends next year.

Asked at the Reuters NEXT Europe summit in London if she could be in the running, former Spanish economy minister Calvino said: "No, no, no, no. I am absolutely proud, committed, happy to be at the helm of the European Investment Bank." 

European leaders are not expected to pick Lagarde’s successor until the second half of next year but several policymakers have already expressed interest in the job, while others are tipped to be in the running.

Potential contenders include former Dutch central bank chief Klaas Knot, Bundesbank president Joachim Nagel, Bank for International Settlements Managing Director Pablo Hernandez de Cos and ECB board member Isabel Schnabel.

Three ECB board positions expire next year, including those of chief economist Philip Lane and Schnabel, so EU leaders may also opt to select their replacements in a package, subject to Europe's regular political horse trading.

The EU’s largest countries have claimed de facto permanent seats on the ECB's Executive Board, so France and Germany are almost certain to get two of the three upcoming spots.

Calvino's comments on Tuesday ruling herself out of the ECB running echo those Lagarde herself made months before she got the top job in late 2019.

"No, no, no no, no, no . . . I am not interested in any of the European - ECB, Commission, da da da da da - jobs. No," Lagarde told the Financial Times at the time.

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(Additional reporting by Alessandra Galloni in London and Balazs Koranyi in Frankfurt; editing by Izabela Niemiec.)