The United States may have little choice but to support French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde’s bid for the managing director position at the International Monetary Fund if the country wants to retain its control of the top position at the World Bank and second highest post at IMF, according to observers.
Members of the U.S. Congress appear keen to keep the World Bank leadership within the U.S.’s control, Bloomberg says.
“Congress is certainly watching this election process very closely,” the news agency quotes Tim Adams, a former U.S. Treasury undersecretary who is currently working for a U.S.-based investment consulting firm. “They will want to ensure that the U.S. representation at both the fund and the bank remain at its current levels.”
Lagarde’s only declared contender as of June 6 is Agustin Carstens, the governor of Mexico’s central bank. Other names have been floated, including Grigori Marchenko, who heads Kazakhstan’s central bank. IMF member countries have until June 10 to formally nominate candidates. The fund hopes to name a new chief by June 30.
>> IMF Hopes to Name New Managing Director by June 30
U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner has noted in previous interviews that Lagarde and Carstens are both “very talented” possible successors to Dominique Strauss-Kahn, who resigned from his post following his involvement in a sexual assault case last month.
Geithner said the United States intends to support an IMF managing director who has the “broad support” of IMF member countries. This was also stressed by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who however noted that “unofficially” the United States supports having women in top positions at international institutions.
>> Christine Lagarde Plans Global Tour to Rally Support for IMF Bid
The United States is the largest stakeholder in the IMF and will play a “significant” role in choosing the fund’s next leader, as Geithner himself noted, according to Bloomberg.
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