Malta supports Mario Draghi’s bid to head the European Central Bank, sources close to the Ministry of Finance told The Times Business yesterday, even though there are officially no official candidates for the post yet.
Mr Draghi, the Governor of Italy’s Central Bank, has emerged as the front runner to replace the current President of the European Central Bank, Jean Claude Trichet, when his term ends in October.
“It is still a bit early to adopt an official position, however, in principle, Malta is in favour of Draghi’s candidature,” a senior government official told this newspaper.
Malta’s endorsement of Mr Draghi follows a series of endorsements by key eurozone member states which are expected to take a final decision on Mr Trichet’s replacement during June’s EU summit in Brussels.
Mr Draghi – known also as ‘Super Mario’ – has already received the endorsement of key members of the euro area such as French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Jean Claude Juncker, President of the Eurogroup and Prime Minister of Luxembourg. Spain has also given its endorsement.
The only remaining hurdle for Mr Draghi to take his seat in Frankfurt this October seems to be Germany with Chancellor Angela Merkel still toying with the unpopular idea in her country of putting an Italian in charge of the EU’s financial and monetary system.
Originally, the German Chancellor was hoping that Mr Trichet would be replaced by one of her own top bankers, however last February, the chairman of the Bundesbank Axel Weber – highly tipped to be the next ECB President – surprisingly announced his resignation and said that he was not interested in the job.
Mr Draghi currently heads the Financial Stability Board in charge of global banking regulation and has private sector experience with investment bank Goldman Sachs. He also served as director of Italy’s Treasury in the 1990s. Other possible candidates such as Luxembourg Central Bank Governor Yves Mersch and Erkki Liikanen, the head of Finland’s Central Bank, are considered to have less varied curriculums and less international experience.
The next ECB president will take over at a sensitive time. The ECB raised interest rates earlier this month for the first time in nearly three years after eurozone inflation rose above its target and must balance further rises against the risks faced by vulnerable countries on Europe’s periphery.