Bundesbank boss Axel Weber pulled out of pole position in the race to become the next European Central Bank chief on Friday, dashing Berlin's hopes of having a German in the post for the first time. After days of speculation, Axel Weber told Chancellor Angela Merkel in a meeting in Berlin that he would quit the German central bank on April 30 "for personal reasons," the government said.
"A successor will be named in the coming weeks," it said. The 53-year-old Weber, seen as a hardliner on ECB policy and practice, was a front-runner and apparently enjoying solid government backing to succeed Frenchman Jean-Claude Trichet in October.
One government insider told AFP officials were in shock at Weber's "tragic" decision.
Trichet's successor will be only the third person to head the ECB, the world's most powerful central bank after the US Federal Reserve. The first was Dutchman Wim Duisenberg.
By not pushing to get one of its own in any top European position in recent years, Europe's economic powerhouse was widely seen as having its eye on the ECB presidency instead.
The head of the European Commission is Portuguese, the European Union's president a Belgian and its foreign policy chief is British - Jose Manuel Barroso, Herman Van Rompuy and Catherine Ashton respectively.
"It always looked as if the entire focus was on securing the next ECB presidency, with Weber as the ideal candidate," ING economist Carsten Brzeski said.
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