French central bank governor to step down early
François Villeroy de Galhau to quit in June, before his term was due to end after 2027 presidential election
France’s central bank chief François Villeroy de Galhau is stepping down early to run a charitable foundation, allowing French President Emmanuel Macron to fill the key role by this summer and before the presidential election of 2027.
Villeroy de Galhau, who has been in the job for nearly 11 years, said in a statement he would leave the Bank of France in early June. His latest six-year term had been due to run until October 2027. He will take over the chairmanship of a children’s and social inclusion charity founded by Catholic priests, and said his decision was personal.
“By June, a little more than a year before the end of my second term, it seems to me I will have accomplished the core of my mission,” Villeroy de Galhau said in a statement, stressing the bank’s role in “underpinning confidence throughout various crises”.
The move is unusual, however. The timing means Macron will name a replacement before the presidential contest of 2027.
Macron cannot stand again for a third term. The far-right is polling far ahead of potential contenders on the left or from a central bloc, with Marine Le Pen and her number two Jordan Bardella riding high in election run-off scenarios.
Villeroy de Galhau, who was appointed for his first six-year term by Socialist president François Hollande in 2015, was in charge of the central bank during the Covid-19 pandemic and subsequent efforts by the French government to boost the economy.
He has been highly visible in France, including as a commentator on the economy, recently warning over the country’s high deficit. In the past two years, he has often been cited as a possible candidate for prime minister.
Since 2024, several governments appointed by Macron have fallen in quick succession as lawmakers wrangled over the budget, after a legislative election splintered the French parliament.
Villeroy de Galhau was also an advocate for lower interest rates at the ECB. His exit comes ahead of a sweeping reshuffle in top European Central Bank jobs by the end of 2027, which will culminate in the replacement of its president Christine Lagarde.
Lagarde said the ECB’s governing council has “benefited enormously from the realism combined with strong European convictions and vision” that Villeroy de Galhau “always brings to the table”.
In a letter to employees shared by the Bank of France, Villeroy de Galhau, who turns 67 later this month, said he had been approached by the Fondation Apprentis d’Auteil and was leaving the central bank of his own accord.
“I naturally took this important decision independently . . . I informed the president (of France) and government authorities a few days ago, as well as the president of the ECB,” Villeroy de Galhau wrote.
The succession race could include internal and external candidates, and the person put forward by the president would need to be approved by the finance committees in the Senate and lower house of parliament.
France’s deputy central bank governor Agnès Bénassy-Quéré is also seen as a strong contender for an ECB board seat.