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Next ECB chief should not necessarily be from northern country - France

French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire speaks during a news conference after a National Council of Industry at the Bercy Finance Ministry in Paris, France, February 26, 2018. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier

PARIS (Reuters) - The next head of the European Central Bank should not necessarily come from a northern member state after a Spaniard was chosen as its vice president last month, French finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said on Thursday.

Le Maire and his euro zone counterparts chose former Spanish economy minister Luis de Guindos last month as the ECB’s no. 2, in a move widely seen by analysts as boosting the chances of a German becoming the new ECB head next year.

The ECB presidency is the only one among other top EU jobs that becomes available next year, along with the head of the European Commission.

The French government has so far not indicated who it would back or whether it would put forward a candidate.

“France decided to back ... de Guindos as ECB vice president but this choice in no way prejudges other choices France will make for other major European posts,” Le Maire told journalists on the sidelines of an agriculture convention in Paris.

“Some people a bit hastily draw the far-fetched conclusion that because a southerner, a Spaniard, was put at the ECB there could be a northerner in exchange for this or that job... That’s not how we see things,” added Le Maire.

Asked whether France would put forward a candidate for the ECB’s presidency, Le Maire said it was too early to start “wheeling and dealing” for EU jobs opening up next year.

Reporting by Yann Le Guernigou; Writing by Leigh Thomas, editing by Pritha Sarkar

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