Kristalina Georgieva, the current managing director of the International Monetary Fund, has won the support of European countries for a second 5-year term. Yet does her performance in her first term justify the support?
Georgieva’s reappointment is basically a done deal, as the European Union has a large voting share, and a decades-old, justly criticized “gentleman’s agreement” means the United States — another large shareholder — will back the EU’s candidate, in exchange for reciprocal support for their choice at the World Bank.
The IMF’s mandate is to maintain the stability of the international financial and monetary system through lending, economic policy advice, and technical assistance. The past five years have seen a confluence of global crises, including conflict and growing geopolitical instability, the COVID-19 pandemic, and accelerating climate change. This, coupled with IMF responses to the crises, has had wide-reaching economic, social, and political impacts, particularly in lower-income countries.