Lagarde to leave ECB early to prevent Le Pen from picking successor
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... Christine Lagarde is poised to quit as European Central Bank (ECB) boss early over fears Marine Le Pen could pick her successor if she wins the French election.

Ms Lagarde's term expires in October 2027 but the French presidential election falls six months earlier in April.

Polls suggest that National Rally's Ms Le Pen or her deputy Jordan Bardella are on course to win, raising fears they might use the ECB selection process to undermine the central bank's independence.

Ms Le Pen no longer calls for France to ditch the euro as its currency. But Mr Bardella has said the ECB should bail out the indebted French government by buying more of its bonds.

Ms Lagarde, who once served as finance minister in a centre-Right French government, is expected to quit early because of these concerns, the Financial Times reported.

Leaving her post before France goes to the polls would keep Emmanuel Macron in control of France's input into the ECB decision.

"The intent would be to future-proof the ECB from the far Right, under the assumption National Rally win the French presidential election," said Andrzej Szczepaniak, an analyst at Japanese investment bank Nomura. ...