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Jens Weidmann’s resignation will be effective on December 31 after 10 years in office. Before leaving, he thanked his colleagues at the European Central Bank (ECB) and warned of the dangers of inflation to the world economy.
The Bundesbank, the Central Bank of Germany, announced this Wednesday, October 20, that its president Jens Weidmann asked the president of Germany, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, to resign from his post, which he had held since 2011.
In his farewell letter, Weidmann commented that more than ten years is a good metric to open another chapter “for the Bundesbank, but also for me personally”.
Angela Merkel, the German Chancellor who is also soon leaving office, regretted the resignation and thanked the senior official for his work.
Another to react was the Finance Minister, the Social Democrat Olaf Scholz, who thanked Weidmann for “his extraordinary commitment over the last ten years.”
Both leaders agreed that Weidmann “has not only set monetary policy in Germany and Europe” but has also promoted the development of international financial markets.
The leader of the Liberal Party, Christian Lindner, also regretted the resignation and highlighted the qualities of Weidmann on behalf of Germany before the ECB.
“The environment in which we operate has changed a lot and the tasks of the Bundesbank have grown. The financial crisis, the sovereign debt crisis and, finally, the pandemic, have led to political and monetary policy decisions that will have a prolonged effect”, Weidmann assured in the dismissed letter warning that “we must not lose sight of the risks of inflation.”
The Government had appointed the banker in February 2019 for a new eight-year term in charge of the Central Bank.
Weidmann arrived there in 2011, aged 42, and became the youngest president of the Bundesbank. His successor will be part of the negotiations of the new coalition government between the Social Democrats, the Greens and the Liberals after the tight elections in that country.
The German economy will grow 2.4% this year, below expectations, due to problems in global supply chains, the country’s leading economic institutes recently said.
With EFE and AP
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