Croatia's central bank governor Boris Vujcic. — Reuters
Brussels: Croatia’s central-bank chief Boris Vujcic is set to become the next European Central Bank (ECB) vice-president and the first person from eastern Europe to join the institution’s executive board.
In a decision that kicks off a two-year shake-up of the six-member panel, the 61-year old policymaker secured backing from eurozone finance ministers on Monday to succeed Luis de Guindos after he leaves at the end of May, according to Eurogroup president Kyriakos Pierrakakis.
“We’re on track for Boris Vujcic to take up his position at the ECB as of June 1,” Pierrakakis, who is also Greece’s finance minister, told reporters here.
Before then, he will face a hearing at the European Parliament, and the ECB’s governing council will also be consulted.
European Union leaders have the final say on the appointment. In the past, they always followed the Eurogroup’s vote.
The decision is a breakthrough for eastern Europe, which has never held an ECB board seat even as the region now makes up a third of the eurozone’s 21 members.
Nations from that part of the bloc had mounted their strongest push yet to join the central bank’s top management for the first time.
Candidates of Lithuania, Estonia, Portugal and Latvia successively dropped out of the race for lack of support in early rounds of voting.
Vujcic finally faced off against Finnish central-bank chief and former European commissioner Olli Rehn, who was seen as having an edge earlier in the process. —Bloomberg
