BERLIN (MNI) – German Chancellor Angela Merkel is apparently
determined to make her 42-year old top economic advisor, Jens Weidmann,
the next president of the Bundesbank, the mass daily Bild reported
Tuesday.
The Free Democrats, the junior partner in the government coalition,
also have agreed to that, the paper wrote. The government cabinet is to
formally adopt the appointment of Weidmann on Wednesday, Bild said.
However, there remain some reservations in the government camp
against moving Weidmann directly from the government to the central
bank, according to the paper. This could impair the political
independence of the Bundesbank, these critics argue.
Incumbent Bundesbank president Axel Weber told the weekly Der
Spiegel in an interview published over the weekend that Weidmann “is an
excellent economist.” Weber had declared on Friday he would step down in
April of this year, prior to the end of his term in April 2012.
–Berlin bureau: +49-30-22 62 05 80; email: twidder@marketnews.com
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