FRANKFURT, Feb 19 (Reuters) – European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde has told colleagues she remains focussed on her job and she would tell them first if she was about to step down, four sources told Reuters, in a private message the recipients took to mean she was not about to resign.
The Financial Times reported on Wednesday that Lagarde planned to leave her job early, ahead of next year’s French presidential election, to give outgoing leader Emmanuel Macron a say in picking her successor.
Lagarde messaged fellow policymakers later that day to reassure them that she was still concentrating on her ECB role and that they would hear it from her, rather than the press, if she wanted to step down, the sources said.
Recipients of the message said this likely meant that Lagarde did not want to leave the ECB immediately although the message did not firmly close the door to such a step.
An ECB spokesperson declined to comment.
(Reporting by Francesco Canepa and Balazs Koranyi; Editing by Toby Chopra)
