Central Bank chief tipped for ECB job

Central Bank governor Philip Lane looks set to land a top post at the European Central Bank and could leave his post early in the new year.

Mr Lane, who has endured a rough two weeks as governor amid considerable criticism of his handling of the tracker mortgage scandal, is a firm favourite to secure a senior post at the Frankfurt bank.

Several senior government sources have confirmed a “concerted lobbying effort” on Mr Lane’s behalf is currently underway in a bid to try and secure a post on the six-person ECB executive board.

Asked for a response, the Central Bank refused to comment other than to refer the Irish Examiner to comments he made previously, in which he said “it’s nice to be mentioned”.

Government sources confirmed they are “fully supportive” of Mr Lane’s name going forward and denied that the renewed talk of a prospective departure has anything to do with the widespread political criticism of his handling of the mortgage tracker scandal.

Yet, one senior minister did say that there is a will for a “more political animal” in the Central Bank.

Mr Lane was appointed in 2015 on a seven-year term.

He succeeded Prof Patrick Honohan and is a highly regarded economist of international standing. He is paid €254,048 a year.

Mr Lane has considerable experience and has chaired an ECB advisory technical committee relating to the stability of the eurozone.