It is still possible to guess who will succeed Bundesbank President Jens Weidmann, who announced his retirement at the turn of the year.

The time pressure suggests that the top personnel should be settled in the course of the coalition negotiations, presumably at the end when it comes to the balance of power, ministries and people.

At some point the SPD, Greens and FDP should clarify in small groups who should sit in the highest decision-making body of the European Central Bank (ECB) for the Bundesbank and thus for Germany.

Manfred Schäfers

Business correspondent in Berlin.

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Since the contract with Weidmann's deputy Claudia Buch will expire as planned in the spring of 2022 - then the usual eight years will be over - the traffic light representatives have more options to find a solution that is acceptable to all three. That is not to say that the economist has no chance of moving on, but that is not set.

It is unlikely that Buch will rise to the very top.

On the one hand, she owes her post to Wolfgang Schäuble (CDU), Olaf Scholz's predecessor in the Federal Ministry of Finance.

That doesn't necessarily make them attractive to the traffic light parties.

On the other hand, the public appearance is not so much their business.

But that is what is expected of the first representative of the central bank.

He not only has to speak competently on monetary policy measures in the Governing Council, but also explain to the citizens of the country in simple words and with clever pictures why which strategy is appropriate.

FDP wants monetary policy continuity

The first names quickly circulated for the not only financially attractive Bundesbank post when the former economic advisor to Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) announced his resignation. But the group of candidates is different from what many think. Most of those mentioned so far are out of the running. Often there was an expectation in their cases that the SPD would, with Olaf Scholz at the gate of the power center, promote someone close to it to the head of the Bundesbank, who could ensure a different course in monetary policy. However, the remaining finance minister and likely next chancellor cannot be interested in offending the Germans by presenting them with a monetary dove. He would make himself vulnerable if the inflation rate did not fall as promised,but remains at a higher level.

In any case, the FDP is not thinking of taking responsibility for a different course at the top of the Bundesbank.

Its chairman, Christian Lindner, is calling for monetary policy continuity.

The baseline of monetary policy should remain compatible with the majority in the country, he said a few days ago in an interview with the FAZ

The long list of possible candidates

One candidate who was often mentioned when speculating about the Weidmann successor is Marcel Fratzscher, President of the German Institute for Economic Research, which is based in Berlin. It is not to be expected that the economist will actually move to Frankfurt anytime soon, not only because his contract in Berlin has just been extended by five years. He would be too much for a change of course to be seriously shortlisted. Isabel Schnabel shares this disadvantage with Fratzscher. The ECB director stands for the highly controversial course of the European Central Bank in Germany, which she defends publicly. ECB President Christine Lagarde is making no move to reduce this emergency measure, although the associated risks and side effects are becoming increasingly noticeable.