Portugal, Latvia vie for Eurogroup chief job

The Portuguese and Latvian finance ministers have thrown their hats into the ring to become the next head of the Eurogroup, whose job will be to carry out major reforms to the eurozone currency bloc, officials said.

One of Europe's most senior posts, the job is currently held by former Dutch finance minister Jeroen Dijsselbloem, who must step down after losing his ministerial job following a poor election result in the Netherlands earlier this year.

Elected for two and a half years, the head of the Eurogroup chairs the monthly meetings of finance ministers of the 19 countries that use the euro, with the main responsiblity of coordinating the often clashing economic policies and priorities of its members.

The final choice by ministers is scheduled for the next meeting of the Eurogroup ministers on December 4 in Brussels.

Portuguese Finance Minister Mario Centeno officially applied for the post, Lisbon confirmed on Thursday, and is considered to be the favourite to win the backing of his eurozone counterparts.

But in a surprise, Latvian Finance Minister Dana Reizniece-Ozola, 36, a former chess master, has also officially bid for the job, an official EU source told AFP on condition of anonymity.

Her dark horse bid comes soon after the EU's eastern member states were painfully overlooked in favour of France and the Netherlands to be the new hosts for EU agencies forced to leave London after Brexit.

The candidacies of Luxembourg's Pierre Gramegna, who was one of the first to express interest, and Slovakia's Peter Kazimir, were not confirmed to AFP.

The job is one of Europe's top posts, with the holder considered one of the EU's "five presidents" along with European Commission head Jean-Claude Juncker and European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi.

The role was especially crucial during the tumultuous years of the eurozone debt crisis, when the bloc's ministers faced the daunting task of saving the euro currency from near collapse.

Ministers have a myriad of considerations in selecting a candidate, including nationality and political leaning, with Centano's socialist party widely considered to be due a top post.

Centeno fulfils almost all the criteria and is understood to have the backing of Juncker.

According to media reports, Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa discussed the job on Wednesday with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, the eurozone's most influential leader, at an EU-Africa summit in Africa.