Frankfurt (AFP)

Mario Draghi, who chairs his last meeting at the ECB on Thursday before handing over to Christine Lagarde, should explain his policy of "easy money" that has divided the institution as ever.

"The disturbing element", in this farewell ceremony, "is the + Roses + war underway" in the board of governors of the monetary institute, says Carsten Brzeski, economist at ING.

The arsenal of measures unsheathed in September, incorporating a rate cut and a controversial relaunch of debt buybacks, sparked public criticism from the presidents of the central banks of Germany and the Netherlands.

A few days later, Sabine Lautenschläger, a German member of the Executive Board of the ECB, slammed the door two years before the end of her term, a resounding sign of her disagreement with the policy.

We must therefore expect "therapeutic moments" to bridge the differences, according to Brzeski, but no significant decision after such fireworks: the ECB also decided a system of negative rates in stages to banks as well as a new giant loan program for financial institutions.

- Lagarde presents -

But a new turbulent meeting would not be a gift for the French Christine Lagarde, who will be present Thursday in Frankfurt as an auditor, as learned AFP, before a ceremony more official Monday. From November 1st, she will be the first woman to steer monetary policy in the eurozone.

The time will be in the balance sheet and the sketch post-Draghi perspectives, an exercise always closely watched by financial actors.

In eight years of the Italian banker's tenure, the ECB has taken measures still unimaginable when the euro was launched 20 years ago, bringing to zero its main rate and to -0.50% that applied to deposits that banks entrust to the central bank.

On the market side, since 2015, it has poured 2,600 billion euros by buying private and public debt, the famous "quantitative easing" or "QE" supposed to stimulate the distribution of credit, therefore the economic activity.

Often portrayed as a lonely thinker inclined to impose his visions, even to rush other members of the board of governors, Mario Draghi remains credited with saving the euro in the middle of a debt crisis by displaying his determination to "do everything" to preserve the monetary union.

But its abundant and cheap money policy, very favorable to borrowers, remains disputed, particularly in Germany or the Netherlands.

- The goal is moving away -

Critics argue that such measures discourage countries with budget deficits from reforming, creating financial and real estate bubbles and hurting savers with very low interest rates.

Doubts are also growing over the effectiveness of such an energetic cocktail on the euro zone since after five rather favorable years and 11 million jobs created, growth decelerates sharply, especially in industry.

Risks related to trade tensions and emerging economies, not to mention Brexit, hardly help the ECB to raise inflation to the level it is aiming for, close to 2%.

And if he has not stopped chasing this goal since 2013, Draghi sees him moving away, judging by medium-term inflation expectations of the markets: very much watched by the ECB, this indicator has fallen at 1.2% in mid-October, close to its "historic floor", recalls Franck Dixmier, director of bond management at Allianz GI.

Mrs Lagarde should, according to her first statements, continue the generous course of this monetary policy by adapting it to the circumstances.

His other major project should be, as Mr Draghi has undertaken unsuccessfully, to urge states to pursue a "growth-friendly" fiscal policy, according to Florian Hense, an economist at Berenberg.

© 2019 AFP