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Ireland’s finance minister Paschal Donohoe is stepping down to take up a senior position at the World Bank, creating an early vacancy at the helm of the Eurogroup, of which he has been president since 2020.
Donohoe was re-elected for a third term as Eurogroup president in July, a role that was very high-profile during the Eurozone sovereign debt crisis, handling the EU’s response, but has since involved co-ordination of fiscal policy in the single currency bloc.
Donohoe’s premature departure, which was confirmed by two people close to him but is due to be officially announced after a meeting of the Irish cabinet on Tuesday, will kick off a race among Eurozone capitals to replace him. His third term as Eurogroup president had been due to end in 2027.
The Cypriot finance minister, Makis Keravnos, will serve as acting Eurogroup president until an election can be held, a spokesperson for the body said.
The president of the Eurogroup must have the support of a majority of Eurozone finance ministers. In the most recent election, candidates from Spain and Croatia withdrew their bids when it became apparent that Donohoe would win a third term.
Ireland was expected to appoint a new finance minister from Donohoe’s conservative Fine Gael party later on Tuesday, a government spokesman said.
Donohoe had worked on Ireland’s last 10 budgets as either finance or public expenditure minister and had long been expected to seek an international role after previously courting the job of managing director of the IMF.
He will become a managing director and chief knowledge officer at the World Bank, one person with knowledge of his appointment said.
Additional reporting by Sam Fleming in London