EU officials are expected to name French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde as International Monetary Fund managing director at next week’s G-8 meeting in the French seaside resort of Deauville, replacing the resigned Dominique Strauss-Kahn.
“Discussions began quite some time ago, when everyone knew that Dominique Strauss-Kahn would be standing down, and she was always in the front,” an EU insider speaking on conditions of anonymity told The Telegraph.
President Barack Obama, who will be at the meeting, is expected to offer his endorsement for Lagarde, sealing the deal. If picked, the Paris-born Lagarde will be the first woman to head the IMF.
A potential obstacle in Lagarde’s appointment to the No. 1 job at the global lender was cleared on Friday when Kemal Dervis, Turkey’s ex-economy minister who was speculated as a key candidate from outside the EU, ruled himself out.
“I have not been, and will not be, a candidate,” Dervis said in a statement through the Brookings Institution, where he serves as a vice president.
European politicians, hoping the new chief would give attention to Europe’s debt crisis, have been trying to quickly agree on a candidate before emerging nations come up with a rival contender.
Although some emerging nations have suggested that their candidates should be given a chance to take the top slot, shifting the chief from a European to a member of another country could also be unfavorable to the United States, since Europe’s picks have historically been those endorsed by the U.S. government.
The frenzy over finding a new IMF chief started when Strauss-Kahn was arrested on May 14 on charges that he sexually assaulted a New York hotel maid. Strauss-Kahn resigned on Wednesday and was released from jail on Friday on $1 million in bail and a $5 million insurance bond.
Under a long-standing agreement between the United States and Europe, the IMF top position has always gone to a European, while its sister organization, the World Bank, always has an American head.
