Merkel’s favourite for ECB bows out

Published on 10 February 2011 at 10:59

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“Axel Weber not in the running,” announces the Financial Times Deutschland. The president of Germany’s Bundesbank has declared that he will not seek to renew his mandate, thereby setting aside any possibility of his appointment as president of the European Central Bank (ECB). The news will come as a blow to Angela Merkel, who wanted to nominate a compatriot for the key post, and who will now find herself without a candidate. “The euro will not suffer as a result of this decision,” remarks the Hamburg daily, because there are plenty of competent candidates with the ability to implement an independent and anti-inflationist policy at the ECB. Weber’s withdrawal could facilitate Germany’s plans for European economic governance, because “the project would likely have encountered more resistance if there was a German at the head of the ECB,” remarks FTD.

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