Christine Lagarde has announced that she will step down as president of the European Central Bank eight months before her term ends, saying she wants to speak freely about matters beyond monetary policy.

Lagarde, 70, said on Thursday that the restrictions accompanying the bank’s independence had become incompatible with her wish to address broader global issues. She has led the ECB since November 2019, having previously headed the International Monetary Fund. Her term was due to run until October 2027.

“I want to have the freedom of speech, the freedom of expression and the freedom to engage on matters that are not monetary policy matters,” she said at a press conference.

Her explanation drew a distinction between the freedom she wants personally and the neutrality required of central bank officials. She acknowledged that their obligation to focus public comments on monetary policy was “the price we pay for being independent”. She also noted that ECB presidents and board members cannot have their terms renewed.

Lagarde said she no longer felt comfortable remaining silent on wider issues. “I’m interested in the truth, and I see the truth being very often damaged, contradicted by misrepresentation,” she said, without specifying the issues or instances she meant.

Drawing on more than two decades in international economic and financial roles, she argued that she had something to contribute outside central banking, though she acknowledged that people might not listen.

For the ECB, the immediate question is succession and continuity. Lagarde said a process to identify her successor had already begun and that there were many excellent candidates. No successor was named in her remarks.

She sought to reassure markets and staff that her departure would not interrupt decision-making, describing the institution as solid and strong. That assurance leaves the choice of her replacement unresolved, alongside the substance of the wider interventions she intends to make.