Spain on Friday said it had put forward former central bank chief Pablo Hernandez de Cos as a candidate to succeed Christine Lagarde as president of the European Central Bank, according to a letter seen by Reuters.

Spanish Deputy Prime Minister Carlos Cuerpo said in a letter sent to Eurogroup president Kyriakos Pierrakakis that he was "confident" that De Cos would bring to the ECB the same steady hand and inspiring leadership he demonstrated at the Bank of Spain during his 2018-2024 tenure.

Euro zone governments had to put forward their candidates to replace Lagarde by Friday and euro zone finance ministers will take stock of the process at their regular meeting on Monday.

De Cos, who is currently the general manager of the Bank for International Settlements (BIS), is widely seen as one of the leading candidates for the job, together with former Dutch central bank chief Klaas Knot.

Cuerpo, who is also Spain's economy minister, said that with nearly three decades of experience in central banking, De Cos combined an "exceptional knowledge" of economic, fiscal and monetary policy with "extensive expertise" in international banking and financial stability.

As Bank of Spain governor, he also chaired the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision as well as the Advisory Technical Committee of the European Systemic Risk Board, where he earned a "reputation for technical rigour (...) and the ability to unite teams and build consensus," Cuerpo said.

The policymaker had also demonstrated his independence and "steadfast commitment to the ECB mandate", as well as his "ability to communicate clearly with markets, traits I believe are all invaluable to the position of President of the ECB," Cuerpo said in the letter.