Weidmann signals openness to succeeding Draghi

Bloomberg

Jens Weidmann signalled he’s open to succeeding Mario Draghi as president of the European Central Bank, the Bundesbank chief’s strongest hint so far that he wants the job.
“I believe that every member of the Governing Council should have the willingness to contribute to monetary policy also in a different role,” the German told Funke Mediengruppe in an interview.
Weidmann said that public discussion of who will follow in Draghi’s footsteps at the end of 2019 has started “much too early.” Euro-zone governments are unlikely to decide on a successor this year. The German, who became Bundesbank president in 2011, has himself stoked talk of the ECB succession race in a series of comments responding to questions about his status as the perceived front runner.
In an interview with the Financial Times published in February, Weidmann — one of the most hawkish central bankers in the 19-nation region — discussed his views on the ECB presidency at length. The newspaper then likened him to the 12th century archbishop of Canterbury Thomas Becket, referring to how an institution can change the convictions of the person who runs it.
Weidmann, who is 50, clearly liked the analogy. He used it just days later in describing incoming ECB Vice President Luis de Guindos.
The Spaniard’s move directly from the helm of his country’s Economy Ministry has raised eyebrows in Frankfurt and elsewhere because of the implications for ECB political independence.
Fellow Governing Council member, Bank of Finland Governor Erkki Liikanen, indicated he might be open to considering the ECB job if asked.
“I’m not going to be campaigning for any task,” Liikanen said in an interview on Finland’s YLE TV1. “There may be situations where you get asked: ‘Will you do your duty?’ and then one must consider.”
In his interview with Funke, which will be published in a number of German newspapers as well as Ouest-France, Weidmann also reiterated his call for ending asset purchases soon. Investors predict bond buying won’t continue beyond the end of the year and “I consider that thoroughly plausible because the economy in the euro area is doing markedly well and businesses are very much working to capacity.”
The ECB’s Governing Council next meets on June 14 to set monetary policy. So far, officials have refrained from discussing their strategy to unwind unprecedented stimulus. With bond purchases scheduled to expire in September and investors turning their attention to when interest rates may begin to rise, pressure is mounting on policy makers to explain the path ahead.
“I consider it prudent to provide clarity soon and announce an end date,” Weidmann said, adding that monetary policy will remain accommodative for a long time even after purchases stop. “The road back toward normalisation will be a very long one.”