Central Banks

Lagarde Says Central-Bank Independence Is Critically Important

ECB President Christine Lagarde, center, walks with Fed Chair Jerome Powell, BOJ Governor Kazuo Ueda, and BOE Governor Andrew Bailey during the Federal Reserve’s Jackson Hole Economic Policy Symposium in Moran, Wyoming, on Aug. 22.Photographer: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg

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By Jana Randow and Catarina Saraiva

August 24, 2025 at 3:13 PM UTC

European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde warned against questioning the independence of policymakers and their institutions, arguing that economies risk becoming dysfunctional if governments get involved in setting interest rates.

“The independence of any central bank is critically important,” Lagarde said on Fox News’ Sunday Morning Futures. “We have to be accountable, we have to report back and answer all the questions of either Congress in the US or the European Parliament, for me. But it’s vitally important that a central bank is independent.”