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Lagarde leads IMF race, competition from Mexico

(Agencies)
Updated: 2011-05-23 07:22

France's Economy Minister Christine Lagarde gestures during a news conference for a G20 seminar on the reform of the international monetary system in Nanjing, East China's Jiangsu province in this March 31, 2011 file photo. Britain endorsed Lagarde as an "outstanding candidate" for IMF chief on May 21, 2011, the first G7 country to officially back her as Dominique Strauss-Kahn's successor. [Photo/Agencies]

PARIS/MEXICO CITY, May 22 - French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde's candidacy for IMF chief gained momentum in Europe on Sunday while Mexico put forward its own candidate, ensuring competition for the top job.

The Mexican Finance Ministry said it would nominate central bank chief Agustin Carstens, placing a prominent emerging market name into the race to lead the global lender.

The International Monetary Fund has promised a merit-based process to replace former leader Dominique Strauss-Kahn of France, who is under house arrest in New York on charges he attempted to rape a hotel maid.

Europeans have held the top IMF job since its creation in 1945 and Lagarde is widely considered the front-runner.

French Interior Minister Claude Gueant, a top advisor to French President Nicolas Sarkozy, said on Sunday Lagarde would make an excellent head of the Washington-based lender.

"And besides, many countries support her," he told Europe 1 radio, becoming the first member of France's cabinet to openly tout her credentials.

Germany and Britain also have signaled they would line up behind Lagarde, who has experience managing the euro-zone debt crisis the IMF is now focused on.A senior EU official said there was virtual consensus on Lagarde in the 27-nation European Union after telephone consultations among the leaders. Her candidacy is expected to win US backing, which would tip the votes in her favor at the IMF board.

Strauss-Kahn, a leading contender for the French presidency until his May 15 detention on sexual assault charges, spent his second day out on bail under electronic monitoring and armed guard at a temporary apartment in lower Manhattan. He has vowed to fight the charges.

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His resignation has started a tug of war between Europe and emerging economies, which argue it is time to end 65 years of European domination of the IMF post.

In Mexico, the Finance Ministry said Carstens "has the abilities and qualifications needed to lead an institution of the relevance of the International Monetary Fund."

He was a deputy IMF managing director before joining Mexican President Felipe Calderon's administration in 2006 and headed the central bank from January 2010.

The finance ministers of Australia and South Africa also said on Sunday that the tradition of the IMF leadership going to Europe was out of date, calling on G-20 nations to honor a pledge they made two years ago for an open selection.

Oxfam spokeswoman Sarah Wynn-Williams said the IMF will undermine its legitimacy if it fails to have a selection process that better reflects the weight of countries in the global economy.