Britain Backs Lagarde as New IMF Chief

Britain backed French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde on Saturday as an “outstanding candidate” to succeed Dominique Strauss-Kahn.
Britain Backs Lagarde as New IMF Chief
5/22/2011
Updated:
10/1/2015

<a><img src="https://www.theepochtimes.com/assets/uploads/2015/09/114398504.jpg" alt="France's Finance Minister Christine Lagarde speaks to the press on May 19 in Paris. Lagarde is the leading contender to head the International Monetary Fund after the resignation of French Dominique Strauss-Kahn. (Mehdi Fedouach/AFP/Getty Images)" title="France's Finance Minister Christine Lagarde speaks to the press on May 19 in Paris. Lagarde is the leading contender to head the International Monetary Fund after the resignation of French Dominique Strauss-Kahn. (Mehdi Fedouach/AFP/Getty Images)" width="275" class="size-medium wp-image-1803736"/></a>
France's Finance Minister Christine Lagarde speaks to the press on May 19 in Paris. Lagarde is the leading contender to head the International Monetary Fund after the resignation of French Dominique Strauss-Kahn. (Mehdi Fedouach/AFP/Getty Images)

As the first G-7 country to officially do so, Britain backed French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde on Saturday as an “outstanding candidate” to succeed Dominique Strauss-Kahn as the new managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Strauss-Kahn, who resigned Wednesday as head of the global lender after being charged with attempting to rape a New York hotel maid May 14, is under house arrest and armed guard in an apartment in New York’s financial district.

Following Italy, Germany, and a few other European governments’ support for the 55-year-old Lagarde, Britain’s Finance Minister George Osborne offered Britain’s endorsement.

“I believe Christine is the outstanding candidate for the IMF—and that’s why Britain will back her,” Osborne said in a statement cited by The Telegraph.

“We support her because she’s the best person for the job, but I also personally think it would be a very good thing to see the first female managing director of the IMF in its 60-year history,” Osborne said.

Under a long-standing agreement between the United States and Europe, the top IMF positions have always been filled by Europeans, while its sister organization, the World Bank, has always had an American head.

EU officials, who hope the new chief will sympathize with Europe’s debt crisis, are expected to name Lagarde for the IMF position at the upcoming G-8 meeting, which will take place in the French seaside resort of Deauville Thursday and Friday.