EU aims to pick new ECB chief by year-end

The European Union (EU) wants to name the next head of the European Central Bank by the end of the year, Eurogroup chief Kyriakos Pierrakakis said Monday.

Christine Lagarde , who has headed the ECB for seven years, announced on October 29 that she is stepping down from the position prematurely, nine months ⁠before ⁠the end of her term.

Lagarde's decision to step down early makes the schedule tight for EU leaders because they must also fill two other seats on the ECB's Executive Board ​within months.

"The ambition here is that the whole process would have completed itself by the end of the year," Pierrakakis said before a Eurogroup meeting of eurozone finance ministers.

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