Mario Draghi seen at helm of European Central Bank

PanARMENIAN.Net - French President Nicolas Sarkozy considers Bank of Italy Governor Mario Draghi the leading candidate to succeed Jean-Claude Trichet at the helm of the European Central Bank, a person familiar with the matter said.

Support from Sarkozy after signals from German officials that Draghi is their preferred banker would add momentum to a campaign that has been pushed by Italian government officials. The French leader may disclose his views as early as tomorrow at a briefing in Rome with Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, a Sarkozy aide told reporters last week.

The key decision maker, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, has yet to tip her hand. Merkel’s aides have indicated that Germany, Europe’s biggest economy, no longer insists on a German to succeed Trichet. A banker from Italy, which was the most indebted euro country until passed by Greece, may enable the ECB to make a more compelling case for fiscal discipline, says Ken Wattret, chief euro-zone market economist at BNP Paribas SA.

With a late-June deadline looming, the appointment may become entangled in German opposition to bailouts. As Portugal’s imminent rescue pushes the cost of aiding euro states past 250 billion euros ($361 billion), Merkel may face domestic criticism for choosing a southern European from a country with a legacy of inflation and debt.

Trichet’s eight-year term ends Oct. 31.

Draghi, 63, a Massachusetts Institute of Technology-trained economist, has worked at the World Bank and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) He is also chairman of the Financial Stability Board, which was established by the Group of 20 nations in 2009 to oversee development of standards to strengthen global regulation, Bloomberg reported.