ECB President Lagarde plans to quit before Macron's term ends, FT reports

FRANKFURT, Feb 18 (Reuters) - European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde plans to leave her job before next year's French presidential election to allow Emmanuel Macron to have an input into picking her successor, the Financial ?Times reported on Wednesday.

Lagarde's term is due to ?end in October 2027 but some fear that the far right may win the French presidential ?race in the spring of 2027, complicating the selection for the new ?leader of Europe's most important financial institution.

Citing a person ?familiar with the matter, ?the FT said Lagarde has not yet decided on the exact timing of her departure but ?was keen on Macron and German ?Chancellor Friedrich Merz to be the key deciders in who succeeds her. Macron cannot run again for a third term.

"President Lagarde ?is totally focused on her mission ?and has ?not taken any decision regarding the end of her term," an ECB spokesperson said.

The FT report comes only a week after Bank ?of France Governor Francois Villeroy de Galhau said he would step down ?in June this year, more than a year before the end of his term, allowing Macron to name his replacement before the presidential election that the far-right could win.

While it will be up to all leaders from ?the 21-nation ?euro zone to pick Lagarde's successor, past practice suggests ?that any successful candidate must have both German and French support to clinch ?the role.

There are no formal candidates for the job yet but several names have been floating among ECB circles as potential ECB presidents. The most prominent among these are former Dutch central bank chief Klaas Knot and Bank for International Settlements General Manager Pablo Hernandez de Cos.

Lagarde's non-renewable term at the ECB runs until October ?31, 2027. Prior to heading the ECB, she was managing director of the International Monetary Fund from 2011 to 2019 and before that, the French ?finance minister.

(Reporting by Ananya Palyekar in ?Bengaluru and Balazs Koranyi in Frankfurt; Editing by Christopher ?Cushing and Kim Coghill)