FRANKFURT, May 3 (Reuters) – Spain should retain a seat on the European Central Bank’s Executive Board and even the presidency was a possibility, outgoing ECB Vice President Luis de Guindos said in a newspaper interview on Sunday.
De Guindos, a former Spanish economy minister, steps down at the end of the month, succeeded by Croatia’s Boris Vujcic, leaving Spain, one of the euro zone’s top four economies, without board representation.
However, three spots on the six-person board open up next year, including that of ECB President Christine Lagarde and comments from de Guindos suggest Spain will fight for one of them.
“The presidency would undoubtedly be the best outcome, but the most important thing is to have a seat on the Executive Board,” de Guindos told Spanish newspaper El País.
“Spain is the fourth‑largest economy in the euro area, and I am convinced it will secure a seat on the Board,” he said. “It’s important to have one.”
While all 21 euro zone members can contest board seats, the bloc’s four biggest economies, Germany, France, Italy and Spain dominate the board, shutting the vast majority of the remaining 17 nations out.
ECB watchers consider former Bank of Spain Governor and Bank for International Settlements General Manager Pablo Hernandez de Cos a contender for the presidency but de Guindos stopped short of endorsing him.
“Pablo was a good governor, even though it’s true that it was Luis Linde and Fernando Restoy who oversaw the entire bank restructuring process,” de Guindos said.
Other potential board seat or even presidential contenders from Spain include current Bank of Spain Governor José Luis Escrivá, European Investment Bank President Nadia Calviño and Economy Minister Carlos Cuerpo.
(Reporting by Balazs Koranyi; Editing by Ethan Smith)
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