The candidates to succeed Guindos at the ECB rise to six after Mario Centeno enters the fray

The shortlist to succeed the current vice president of the European Central Bank (ECB), the Spanish Luis de Guindos, whose mandate expired on May 31, already has 6 candidates after the former governor of the Bank of Portugal and former Minister of Finance joined this Friday, Mario Centeno. In this way he joins the governor of the National Bank of Coracia, Boris Vujcicthe former Commissioner for Economic Affairs Olli Rehn, as well as the former Minister of Finance of Lithuania Rmantas Sadzias, the current governor of the Bank of Estonia Madis Müller and its counterpart in Latvia, Martin Kazans. The deadline for submitting candidatures ends today and the identity of Guindos’ successor is expected to be known on January 19.

The confirmation of the candidacy of the former Portuguese central banker until last October, which will be made official by the Government of Portugal This Friday, when the deadline for submitting nominations closes, brings the potential successors to Guindos to six. Centeno has stated to the digital media Eco that “encouraged by the European contacts maintained during my time as governor of the Bank of Portugal, I expressed to the European leaders my willingness to run as a candidate to the position of vice-president of the European Central Bank and kept the Portuguese Government informed.

Centeno added that “after more than three decades at the Bank of Portugal and almost ten years in representative functions in the European Union, including that of president of the Eurogroup, the possibility of assuming the position of vice-president of the ECB represents a challenge for which I feel motivated and qualified”, duck. Last December, Portugal’s Finance Minister, Joaquim Miranda Sarmento, had already expressed his willingness to support a potential candidacy of Mario Centeno.

6 candidates to replace Guindos

The Portuguese will also have to compete with the governor of the National Bank of Croatia, Boris Vujcicwhose nomination was announced yesterday. For its part, Finland was the earliest country to formalize its intentions by announcing last October the support of the Minister of Finance, Riikka Purra, for the candidacy of Olli Rehn to pick up Guindos’ baton as vice-presidency of the ECB. The Finnish central banker, who is serving his second term at the head of the entity and already He was Commissioner for Economic and Monetary Affairs of the EU between 2010 and 2014, it emerges as the a priori favorite, with an intermediate profile between the ‘doves’ and the ‘hawks’ on the Governing Council of the ECB.

Furthermore, the Baltic countries have also confirmed the nominations of their respective candidates. Specifically, this Tuesday, the Ministry of Finance of Lithuania launched the candidacy of former Finance Minister Rimantas Sadziasafter last year marking a decade since the country adopted the euro. Likewise, the Estonian radio and television station ERR announced this week the intention of the country’s Ministry of Finance to present the candidacy of Madis Müller, current governor of the Bank of Estonia, as the next vice president of the ECB. which Martin Kazaks also aspires toits counterpart in the Bank of Latvia, as announced in November by the Latvian Ministry of Finance.

As established by the EU Treaty, the president, vice-president and the other four members of the Executive Board of the ECB must be “personalities of recognized prestige and professional experiencel in monetary or banking matters”. The mandate of the finally chosen candidate will last eight years and will not be renewable. The deadline to formalize candidacies for the countries of the euro zone expires this Friday and it is expected that the decision on who will occupy the seat that Luis de Guindos will vacate will be taken within the Eurogroup on January 19.