? French finance minister tries to win over emerging economies
? David Cameron reaffirms his backing
David Cameron reaffirmed his support on Friday for Christine Lagarde to win the top job at the International Monetary Fund as the French finance minister said she is taking her election campaign to India before heading to China and Brazil to drum up support.
Lagarde, considered the frontrunner to be the next managing director of the IMF, has support across Europe and from the US but faces opposition from developing economies angry that the top job in global finance should again go to a European.
French defence minister G�rard Longuet, who is on a two-day visit to India, said on Friday that Lagarde will visit New Delhi. She is trying to garner support from emerging economies, some of which have strongly criticised the unwritten convention of appointing a European as head of the IMF, which makes emergency loans to countries in crisis. Since its foundation in 1947, the IMF has always been run by a European, while the World Bank is usually headed by an American.
Trying to overcome opposition from emerging economies, Lagarde admitted there had been complaints about the lack of senior management from developing countries.
"If that was the case, which it very well might be ? I would certainly apply the principles that in my previous roles I applied to gender," she told the Financial Times, referring to her long-standing practice of choosing a woman over a man in appointments if they are equally qualified.
"I would want to remedy the situation," she said. "We need appropriate representation of high-level staff based on merit from various nationalities and academic backgrounds."
India, Brazil, Russia, China and South Africa decried Europe's "obsolete" grip on the IMF top job earlier this week. They argued in a joint letter that the choice should be based on competence, not nationality.
Mexico's central bank chief, Agust�n Carstens, has emerged as Lagarde's main rival to replace Dominique Strauss-Kahn. He has said he intends to carry "the flag of emerging markets".
Lagarde told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that Europe's debt crisis and the aftermath of the Arab Spring will be priorities for the International Monetary Fund's next chief as she kept up her campaign for the post.
"Europe will be a clear focus for the next couple of years. I also think that what is happening in northern Africa, in the Middle East, and the major economic developments that will be needed to accompany what is happening, will probably attract the IMF's attention and possibly financing."
Greek government ministers met opposition leaders yesterday to discuss how to proceed with public spending cuts amid splits in the cabinet of prime minister George Papandreou.
George Karatzaferis, leader of the Greek Laos opposition party, said there was little agreement with opposition parties for new austerity measures that aim to keep bailout funds flowing.
His verdict was echoed by Aleka Papariga, head of the Communist Party of Greece, who said the Greek people should not be "trapped by blackmail".
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/may/27/christine-lagarde-imf-campaign-india
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