ZCZC
BCN-23
G7-FRANCE-IMF-ECONOMY-EU
France to lead search for European candidate to head IMF: sources
CHANTILLY, France, July 18, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – French Finance Minister Bruno
Le Maire is to lead talks on finding a single European candidate to succeed
Christine Lagarde as head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), sources
said on Thursday.
The post of IMF managing director, which by convention goes to a European,
became vacant after Lagarde was tapped by EU leaders to head the European
Central Bank.
Finance ministers of the four European members of the G7 — Germany,
France, Britain and Italy — met informally on the sidelines of the meeting
of the most developed nations in Chantilly outside Paris to discuss the
issue.
Sources said after the meeting that the names of several candidates had
been floated but no kind of selection had been made.
“We agreed that it was important one European name was put forward. A
number of names were informally discussed but no short list was established,”
a European official, who asked not to be named, said.
– ‘Impartial role’ –
At the same time, the British, Italian and German ministers agreed that Le
Maire, whose country currently leads the G7, should head informal discussions
with all European countries to “foster a consensus” around a single name, the
official added.
“The objective remains to agree on one European name by the end of the
month.”
Le Maire has insisted that he is not interested in the job himself and
wants to play a completely impartial role in the search.
“Bruno Le Maire does not have a preferred candidate and France will play
its coordination role impartially,” said a French official, who asked not to
be named.
Several high-profile names have already been floated as possible
successors to Lagarde who has steered the IMF since 2011.
They include the Canadian-born Bank of England governor Mark Carney, who
holds Canadian, British and Irish nationality, and former British finance
minister George Osborne, who is now editor of the London Evening Standard
newspaper.
Also in the frame are EU finance commissioner Pierre Moscovici of France
and former finance minister Jeroen Dijsselbloem of the Netherlands as well as
Spanish Economy Minister Nadia Calvino.
The IMF board tapped Lagarde’s number two, American David Lipton, to serve
as interim managing director, but by tradition a European always leads the
fund while an American runs its sister institution, the World Bank.
BSS/AFP/HR/1400