France will coordinate European talks on the choice of the next managing director of the International Monetary Fund with the aim to find a candidate by the end of the month, official said.
French Finance Minister, Bruno Le-Maire made the announcement on Thursday while speaking at the end of a G7 finance ministers and central bank governors’ meeting in the town of Chantilly north of Paris.
Le-Maire said the successor to Christine Lagarde, who will take over the European Central Bank, would be European, but refused to name any possible candidates.
“France will continue to coordinate efforts to find a consensus candidate… until the end of July,” he told a news conference.
Current IMF Head, Christine Lagarde, tendered her resignation on Tuesday after EU leaders nominated her to head the European Central Bank.
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“The idea is that we should come up with a European consensus candidate, who is solid and credible and allows Europe to continue to head the IMF,” Le-Maire said.
The four European G7 members – Britain, France, Germany and Italy – had agreed that a single European candidate should be put forward as a replacement for Lagarde, who is French, a European official at the talks said earlier on condition of anonymity.
The IMF has traditionally been headed by a European, while its sister organisation, the World Bank, has been headed by U.S. officials.
Le Maire will consult informally with all EU member states to find an agreed candidate with economic and financial experience as well as a political track record, the European official said. (NAN)