Spain officially presents the candidacy of Pablo Hernández de Cos to be president of the ECB

This Friday, the Government of Spain formally presented the candidacy of Pablo Hernández de Cos, current director general of the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) and former governor of the Bank of Spain, to replace Christine Lagarde as president of the European Central Bank (ECB). As reported by La Información Económica, the Executive planned to send the nomination by letter to the president of the Eurogroup, the Greek Kyriakos Pierrakakis.

The Minister of Economy, Commerce and Business, Carlos Body, has done so after the Netherlands has confirmed that it would do the same with Klaas Knot in the race to lead the European institution, the Spanish's main rival. "Pablo Hernández de Cos is an exceptional candidate, with recognized international prestige and a career that demonstrates leadership, independence and the capacity for dialogue. I am convinced that he would bring to the ECB the same firm hand that he showed at the head of the Bank of Spain, where he promoted greater transparency and a rapprochement with citizens," said Body.

The first vice president of the Government will defend his bet before his Eurogroup colleagues next Monday, November 9. One of De Cos's strengths for the position is his extensive professional career with more than three decades of experience ranging from the Department of Economics, Statistics and Research of the Bank of Spain (BdE) to the presidency of the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision, among others.

The former BdE governor has a good reputation in the market and among ECB colleagues, where he is considered someone capable of building consensus. In the election of the president of the central bank, an attempt is made to seek a balance both geographically and in monetary policy, and the Croatian Boris Vujcic, its current vice president, is considered a 'hawk' or supporter of greater orthodoxy and also represents Eastern Europe.

The sources consulted by this newspaper acknowledge that, for the moment, the date on which this vote can be carried out is not in sight, although the decision of the current president, Christine Lagarde, to leave office on February 7 - her mandate ended in October of next year - will accelerate the entire process, which is established in article 283 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. Those in charge of managing the times, in any case, will be the presidents of the Eurogroup itself and the European Council.

In the department headed by Corpus, they remember that the position of president of the ECB will be negotiated within a package that also includes the position left vacant by Isabel Schnabel as a member of the Executive Committee and responsible for market operations - the German will leave her position on January 3 to join the International Monetary Fund - as well as that of Chief Economist, which Philip Lane will leave on June 1.