The Netherlands has nominated former Dutch central bank chief Klaas Knot as a candidate to succeed Christine Lagarde as president of the European Central Bank when she steps down next year.
Knot, 59, was president of De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB) for 2011 to 2025. He was made a Grand Officer in the order of Oranje-Nassau, one of the Netherlands’ highest Dutch civilian honours, after retiring at the end of his second term.
Knot is seen as a front runner to become the second Dutch ECB president after Wim Duisenberg, who held the position from 1998 until 2003. His most serious rival is likely to be the former Spanish central bank president Pablo Hernández de Cos.
EU member states have until Friday to put forward candidates for the post, which Lagarde is leaving nine months before the end of her term. The nominations will be confirmed on Monday at a meeting of finance ministers.
The 70-year-old said she no longer “felt comfortable” with the requirement for European central bankers to be neutral in an increasingly polarised world, but has not given detailed reasons for her departure.
Reuters reported three weeks ago that the World Economic Forum, the Davos-based think tank, was lining her up as its next chair.
