FRANKFURT (MNI) – Europeans would be warmer to a German successor
to European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet than they would
be to a candidate of any other nationality, the Financial Times reported
on Tuesday.
According to a poll conducted by the paper and Harris, 26% of
French and Spanish citizens want a German to follow Trichet, whose term
expires end-October. That was more than the number of French and Spanish
favoring a compatriot at the helm of the ECB.
Although the percentage of Italians preferring one of their own was
26% and thus one percentage point higher than the share hoping for a
German, support for an Italian ECB president was very limited everywhere
else in Europe.
The poll suggested that a Finn might make an ideal compromise
candidate if no German gains the necessary support.
Currently, German Bundesbank President Axel Weber is generally seen
as the frontrunner to succeed Trichet, with Mario Draghi, head of the
Bank of Italy, second choice. Various other possibilities have been
mentioned, among them Bank of Finland Governor Erkki Liikanen.
— Frankfurt bureau: +49 69 720 142; e-mail: dbarwick@marketnews.com —
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