European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde will step down on Feb. 7 next year, she announced Thursday. Her departure, months before the end of an eight-year term, sets in motion a selection process among European leaders for a new central bank president. Christine Lagarde, who took charge of the ECB in 2019, steered the eurozone through the Covid pandemic, the Ukraine war, an energy crisis and inflation pressures linked to the US-Iran.