Luxembourg's Mersch set to take top ECB job: report

(FRANKFURT) - The head of the central bank of Luxembourg, Yves Mersch, has won the race for a key position at the European Central Bank, the Financial Times Deutschland reported on Tuesday.

Mersch has pipped rival Spanish candidate Antonio Sainz de Vicuna for an upcoming seat on the ECB's six-member executive board, the newspaper said, quoting eurozone sources.

Eurozone finance ministers will officially approve the nomination at a meeting in Copenhagen on Friday and Saturday, it added.

The seat is currently occupied by another Spaniard, Jose Manuel Gonzalez-Paramo who steps down at the end of May.

The nomination of a replacement is a sensitive one, since it comes at a time when a raft of top EU positions are also becoming free, all coveted by a number of member countries.

After the policy-setting governing council, the executive board is the most important decision-making body within the ECB and is responsible for the day-to-day running of the central bank.