(Bloomberg) — Germany’s new coalition picked Joachim Nagel, a Bank for International Settlements official, as the Bundesbank’s next president, Handelsblatt reported, citing people close to the government.
Nagel, 55, will succeed Jens Weidmann, who leaves at the end of the year. An economist seen as close to Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s Social Democrats, he served six years on the Bundesbank’s board before moving to state-owned development bank KfW Bank. He is currently deputy head of the banking department at the BIS.
The choice of a Bundesbank veteran would suggest continuity rather than change at an institution hallowed within Germany for its role in reasserting price stability during the second half of the 20th century.
Nagel is rejoining the Germany’s central bank at a critical time. A new government has taken office after months of political vacuum, inflation has just hit 6%, and a new wave of coronavirus infections is threatening economic growth.
That economic backdrop has put both Scholz and Finance Minister Christian Lindner of the Free Democrats in the spotlight. Lindner has repeatedly expressed concern at inflation and also says he’s wary at the possibility of fiscal dominance in the euro area.
The choice of Nagel means that Germany will miss an opportunity to pick its first-ever female central bank chief, despite potential candidates ranging from ECB Executive Board member Isabel Schnabel to the current Bundesbank vice president, Claudia Buch.
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