Germany's central bank chief Axel Weber is out of the running to be the next head of the European Central Bank as he is leaving to join private lender Deutsche Bank, reports said today.
Weber and Italian central bank chief Mario Draghi were considered the two most likely successors to succeed Frenchman Jean-Claude Trichet when he steps down in October.
The succession comes at a delicate time for the 17-nation euro zone as it works to regain the confidence of financial markets following debt crises in two member states, Greece and Ireland.
The Bundesbank declined to comment, and said 'rumours' that it would release a statement later today on Weber's future were untrue. Deutsche Bank also refused to comment.
The reports said that Weber, a member of the ECB's governing council who at one point had seemed to be the front-runner, was after all 'not available' for the top post.
Weber has irritated several European Union leaders, who are to select the next ECB president in coming months, with comments criticising the bank's purchases of euro zone government debt.
Several alternative candidates have been mooted in recent weeks, including Luxembourg central bank head Yves Mersch, Finnish central bank governor Erkki Liikanen, and Klaus Regling, head of the European Financial Stability Facility.
A factor weighing against Draghi is that the ECB vice president is Vitor Constancio of Portugal, another southern country. European institutions often strive for geographical balance among its senior positions.
Meanwhile, a poll commissioned by the Financial Times this month found that a German candidate would have more support across the continent than any other. Regling is German.
The poll found that in France and Spain, more of those surveyed, 26%, would prefer the ECB be run by a German than by one of their own when Trichet steps down.
In Germany itself, more than one-third preferred a domestic candidate, but even in Italy, 25% would be happy with a German, slightly less than the 26% who said they would like an Italian to hold the position.
