The Managing Director and Chairwoman of the International Monetary Fund, Christine Lagarde, has been nominated to become the next president of the European Central Bank.
The nomination was announced by Luxembourg Prime Minister Xavier Bettel on Tuesday afternoon, meaning the 63-year-old’s stint at the IMF is set to come to an end.
Apart from Lagarde’s nomination, the European Union leaders also named Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel as new European Council president, Spanish Foreign Minister Josep Borrell as bloc’s top diplomat and German Defence Minister Ursuala von der Leyen as European Commission chief.
The nominations came after an intensive thee-day meeting in Brussels.
Lagarde has served at the IMF since 2011, a stint that has been largely seen as successful.
She will become the only woman ever to have run the institution, and also the first person to do so without being a career central banker.
Ursuala von der Leyen will also become the first ever female Commission president.
The nominations still have to be approved by the European Parliament before the candidates can begin their new roles.
Even so however, Lagarde has accepted the role and has already temporarily relinquished her role as the IMF chief.
I am honored to have been nominated for the @ECB Presidency. In light of this, and in consultation with the Ethics Committee of the IMF Executive Board, I have decided to temporarily relinquish my responsibilities as IMF Managing Director during the nomination period.
— Christine Lagarde (@Lagarde) July 2, 2019
