Lagarde pitches bid for IMF’s top job

Vows to make the 'power lender' more meaningful to global economy:

US: French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde on Thursday made her case to become the next leader of the International Monetary Fund, vowing to promote reforms to make the power lender more representative of the global economy.

Lagarde said she had “productive” one-on-one meetings with IMF executive directors Wednesday and early Thursday in Washington, before a three-hour interview with the 24-member board in the afternoon.

The 187-nation Fund needs to “continue its shift towards responsive, even-handed and balanced action in support of global economic and financial stability, the better to serve the whole membership,” she said in a statement to the board.

“I am not here to represent the interest of any given region of the world, but rather the entire membership,” she said.

Lagarde is the front-runner in the race for the IMF top left vacant after managing director Dominique Strauss-Kahn resigned May 18 to fight sexual assault charges in New York. Strauss-Kahn denies the allegations.

Lagarde’s sole rival, Mexico’s central bank governor Agustin Carstens, admitted that Lagarde’s chances of being elected by the board “are quite high.”

Lagarde has the backing of Europe, which holds seven of the 24 seats on the executive board, and the board hopes to select the new managing director by consensus.

Under a tacit agreement between the United States and Europe, the leadership of the IMF has always gone to a European, while the top job at the World Bank has always gone to an American. The United States, the largest IMF stakeholder with nearly 17 percent of the vote, has not publicly endorsed either Lagarde or Carstens, considered an emerging-market candidate. Lagarde met with US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner Thursday morning before heading to the board interview.

Geithner “believes that Minister Lagarde’s strong leadership skills and experience makes her an exceptionally talented candidate for IMF managing director,” Treasury spokeswoman Natalie Wyeth said. . AFP