IMF Selection: Position Statements

5/22/2011 — “Australia and South Africa on Sunday jointly called for an end to the International Monetary Fund’s top job being allocated on the basis of nationality, saying it undermined the group’s legitimacy. …’For too long, the IMF’s legitimacy has been undermined by a convention to appoint its senior management on the basis of their nationality,’ [Australian Treasurer Wayne Swan and South African Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan] said in a joint statement. ‘In order to maintain trust, credibility and legitimacy in the eyes of its stakeholders, there must be an open and transparent selection process which results in the most competent person being appointed as managing director, regardless of their nationality.'” (http://goo.gl/FKXyN)

5/31/2001 — “Brazilian officials said in private before Lagarde’s visit that President Dilma Rousseff is inclined to back her candidacy as long as she pledges to continue reforming the IMF. They see Lagarde as having more clout to push reforms than Carstens, who arrives in Brazil on Wednesday.” (http://goo.gl/i229Z)5/27/2011 — “Christine Lagarde and Agustin Carstens will pay visits to Brazil next week as part of their campaigns for the position, the Brazilian Finance Ministry said Friday. …Mantega this week said Brazil would be prepared to support a candidate from Europe or from a developing country as long as the candidate backed reforms at the organization and sought to give greater voice to emerging market nations. He also said, however, that Brazil would request a temporary appointment to the post to serve out only the remainder of Strauss-Kahn’s term, which was due to end in 2012.” (http://goo.gl/CAuAM)

5/24/2011 — “Brazil will privately support Lagarde to head the IMF, according to a Brazilian government official who requested anonymity because he isn’t authorized to speak publicly on the issue. In exchange for private support, Brazil will push for Lagarde to run the IMF only until the end of next year, when Strauss-Kahn’s term would have expired, the official said.” (http://goo.gl/AEoyf)

5/19/2011 — “Brazil’s finance minister, Guido Mantega, called for a candidate who could represent a greater number of member nations. ‘We’re beyond the point now where it is remotely appropriate to reserve this important position for a European citizen,’ he wrote.” (http://goo.gl/pRzQ3)

5/19/2011 — “’We must establish meritocracy, so that the person leading the IMF is selected for their merits and not for being European,’ Brazilian Finance Minister Guido Mantega said, calling for a ‘new criteria’ for leadership. ‘You can have a competent European … but you can have a representative from an emerging nation who is competent as well.’” (http://goo.gl/AB0DM)

5/17/2011 — “Brazil believes the next head of the International Monetary Fund should come from a large emerging market country, but does not plan to pressure actively on the issue because Europe is likely to keep its ‘stranglehold’ on the job, a senior government official told Reuters on Tuesday.” (http://goo.gl/K4CeO)

5/19/2011 — “The bookie’s listing for [Bank of Canada Governor Mark] Carney has fuelled considerable speculation in the Canadian media that he is a contender, so much so that both Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Carney have been asked to comment. Both dodged the question.” (http://goo.gl/OPxuX)

5/24/2011 – “China is ‘favorable’ on the prospect of Christine Lagarde leading the International Monetary Fund, French government spokesman Francois Baroin said, indicating support for her may build beyond Europe.” (http://goo.gl/EJeot)5/19/2011 — “China, too, publicly weighed in on the debate, suggesting that achieving a consensus on the successor to Mr. Strauss-Kahn may take several months.” (http://goo.gl/cpejd)

5/19/2011 — “The official People’s Daily — China’s Communist Party mouthpiece — said Thursday the new IMF boss should be Chinese.” (http://goo.gl/IXa0G)

5/19/2011 — “Global Times, a sister publication of the ruling Chinese Communist Party’s mouthpiece The People’s Daily, speculated on the prospect of a Chinese taking over the post. ‘If a Chinese person takes the post it will greatly promote economic exchange between China—the country with the largest trade volume and holdings of foreign reserves—and the international community,’ the paper said.” (http://goo.gl/29zbn)

5/19/2011 — “Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu…said IMF leadership should be chosen on the basis of ‘impartiality’ and ‘merit,’ and that developing nations should be represented.” (http://goo.gl/PM0tY)

5/24/2011 — “Lagarde is planning to announce her candidacy on Wednesday to be the new head of the IMF after the European Union reached a consensus on backing her.” (http://goo.gl/FEmzi)

5/20/2011 — “A senior French official said late Thursday that France hasn’t yet decided to propose [Christine Lagarde] for the job. ‘We would be delighted if Ms. Lagarde got the job and it seems that she wants it,” the official said. “Still, if Europeans agree on another candidate, that would be totally fine.'” (http://goo.gl/5ZnQF)

5/19/2011 — “’Any candidature, whatever it is, should come from Europeans who rally together,’ Ms Lagarde told reporters on the sidelines of a press conference on Thursday.” (http://goo.gl/pRzQ3)

5/19/2011 — “‘The European Union, whose member states are together the top contributor to the Fund, is in a position to propose a high calibre candidate, Europe should be united in its choice,’ said [French President Nicholas] Sarkozy.” (http://goo.gl/Ab8pz)

5/19/2011 — “German Chancellor Angela Merkel supports France’s Finance Minister Christine Lagarde as the new head of the International Monetary Fund, Handelsblatt newspaper reported on Thursday, citing sources in the governing coalition.” (http://goo.gl/Fj8hK)

5/19/2011 — “‘Of course developing nations are within their rights in the medium term to occupy the post of either IMF head of World Bank chief,” [Merkel] she said according to AFP news agency. ‘But I think that in the current situation, with serious problems with the euro and the IMF strongly involved, there is a lot in favour of a European candidate being put forward.'” (http://goo.gl/NN6om)

5/19/2011 — “The German finance ministry believes the next chief of the International Monetary Fund should come from Europe and emerging countries should provide successors in the long term, a spokesman said on Thursday.” (http://goo.gl/xtrgj)

5/19/2011 — “Other possible candidates from Europe include former German central banker Axel Weber, although Berlin has yet officially to offer its backing.” (http://goo.gl/Gp9Bu)

5/22/2011 — “…India is keeping its cards close to its chest. ‘We are watching and analysing these events and will come out with our decision very soon,’ a senior official told Hindustan Times. ‘No point putting in names when we don’t know who is in the field. Not coming out with a name is part of a deliberate strategy.’” (http://goo.gl/ar588)

5/20/2011 — “IMF board member Arvind Virmani, of India, said he would urge his fellow board-members to formally adopt a transparent and publicly disclosed voting process to choose the new chief.” (http://goo.gl/0VmhC)

5/19/2011 — “Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia today said it is up to the Indian government to nominate his name for the top job at the International Monetary Fund (IMF).” (http://goo.gl/FA1oj)

5/19/2011 — “India on Thursday said it is watching the situation even as the country’s likely candidate Montek Singh Ahluwalia said it is for the government to take a view on the issue.” (http://goo.gl/6wxIo)

5/18/2011 — “Planning Commission deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia said on Wednesday he was not putting forward his name for the International Monetary Fund chief’s post.” (http://goo.gl/M2oub)

5/19/2011 — “Michael Noonan, Irish finance minister, told reporters any replacement for Mr. Strauss-Kahn should be a European.” (http://goo.gl/yjbHe)

5/20/2011 — “Japan wants the next IMF leader chosen in a way that’s “open, transparent and based on abilities,” said Finance Minister Yoshihiko Noda. “I am expecting an appropriate person will be selected through such a process,” Mr. Noda said, declining to name a favored candidate or say whether Japan will seek the position.” (http://goo.gl/rBSOh)

5/19/2011 — “Kazakh Prime Minister Karim Massimov wrote on his Twitter account today that his government will nominate central bank Chairman Grigori Marchenko for the post.” (http://goo.gl/2J2FC)

5/22/2011 — “Mexico central bank Governor Agustin Carstens will be presented as a candidate for managing director of the International Monetary Fund, the Finance Ministry said in an e-mailed statement today.” (http://goo.gl/2fDO3)

5/20/2011 — “Mexico has pushed its own candidate, former IMF deputy director Agustin Carstens, currently the head of Mexico’s central bank. Mexican Finance Minister Ernesto Cordero told reporters he thought Mr. Carstens was the ‘best candidate’ to lead the Fund, and that the next head should be chosen on merit.” (http://goo.gl/5ZnQF)

5/19/2011 — “‘Mexico reaffirms its conviction that the process of selecting the governing body of the fund must be done through an open, transparent process based on the merits of the candidates without regard for nationality,’ the statement [from the foreign ministry] read.” (http://goo.gl/bKesD)

5/20/2011 — “Poland may propose its own candidate, former Finance Minister Leszek Balcerowicz, who turned Poland’s post-communist economy into a market-driven one.” (http://goo.gl/kRTCq)

6/9/2011 — “With hours before the deadline to submit nominees, the French finance minister has the backing of European Union countries, and Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has voiced his support.” (http://goo.gl/bLbGs)6/7/2011 — “French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde’s candidacy for the post of the head of the International Monetary Fund faces no convincing competition, Russia’s government sherpa to the IMF said on Tuesday.” (http://goo.gl/QJJDF)

6/1/2011 — “French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde faces no real competition from emerging markets in her bid to lead the International Monetary Fund, though it’s high time for a non-European to take over, said Russian Deputy Finance Minister Sergei Storchak.” (http://goo.gl/cvxf7)

5/19/2011 — “Russia and other ex-Soviet states on Thursday backed Grigory Marchenko, head of Kazakhstan’s central bank, to run the International Monetary Fund after the resignation of Dominique Strauss-Kahn.” (http://goo.gl/of8LV)

5/19/2011 — “Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin said on Thursday…’Our principle is that a comprehensive selection process should be held without defining the region from which the new IMF head should come.'” (http://goo.gl/4Ws3s)

5/21/2011 — “[Trevor] Manuel’s chief of staff, Dumisa Jele, said whereas the local and international media had been trying to get Manuel to ‘breathe a word’ on the issue, the minister’s view was that there was nothing to comment on.” (http://goo.gl/wV2p7)

5/19/2011 — “[South African] Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan says he will back his predecessor, Trevor Manuel , to be the next MD of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). …’SA calls for a candidate from a developing country to be given the opportunity to be the MD.'” (http://goo.gl/hCnJc)

5/19/2011 — “South Korea’s central bank chief Kim Choong-Soo has also said he hoped to see someone from an emerging country become the next IMF chief.” (http://goo.gl/AQKKq)

5/19/2011 — “SaKong Il, a prominent South Korean economist also considered a contender, said the selection of the next IMF managing director should be ‘merit-based,’ not dependent on the home country of the candidate. ‘It’s time to follow through on what’s been promised’ by the Group of 20 leaders, said SaKong” (http://goo.gl/IjVcr)

5/19/2011 — “Britain’s current premier, David Cameron, has made clear that his government would not back a [Gordon] Brown candidacy for the IMF job.” (http://goo.gl/wJacq)

4/19/2011 — “[In April, David Cameron] suggested that the IMF should look to ‘another part of the world’ for its next leader to increase its global standing. ‘If you think about the general principle, you’ve got the rise of India and China and SouthAsia, a shift in the world’s focus, and it may well be the time for the IMF to start thinking about that shift in focus,’ he said.” (http://goo.gl/re4hU)

5/19/2011 — “[British] Business Secretary Vince Cable said that the IMF’s top job should go to someone who understands the internal problems of the Eurozone.” {Editor’s note: The UK is not part of the Eurozone.} (http://goo.gl/UtzJA)

5/19/2011 — “…a highly-placed European official this week said London considered Lagarde ‘certainly a credible candidate.'” (http://goo.gl/Gp9Bu)

6/6/2011 — “The United States supports the timetable laid out to select a new International Monetary Fund chief, and wants to see the best candidate chosen, White House spokesman Jay Carney said on Monday.” (http://goo.gl/QARxF)5/26/2011 — “[Secretary of State Hillary] Clinton says the U.S. will endorse someone as the selection gets closer. But on Thursday she added what amounts to a boost for Lagarde’s prospects, by saying that the U.S. will ‘welcome women who are well-qualified and experienced to head major organizations such as the IMF.'” (http://goo.gl/GevDJ)

5/25/2011 — “U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner on Wednesday said France’s Christine Lagarde and Mexico’s Agustin Carstens are both ‘credible’ candidates to lead the International Monetary Fund… Geithner said the United States was working with emerging economies and Europe to make sure the fund’s structure ‘reflects the balance of power in the world today.'” (http://goo.gl/4ZAZH)

5/20/2011 — “A former U.S. official said the only way to block the France’s Ms. Lagarde would be for the so-called Brics developing nations—Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa—to quickly agree on a candidate and force the U.S. and EU to respond.” (http://goo.gl/rBSOh)

5/20/2011 — “Edwin Truman, a former Obama and Clinton Treasury official, said it is important for the U.S. to appear neutral in the proceedings and not as a deal-cutter with Europe. That means the U.S. isn’t likely to back a European candidate unless the person could show broad support outside the continent.” (http://goo.gl/5ZnQF)

5/19/2011 — “‘We haven’t taken a position on any particular candidate. What is important at this juncture is that we move quickly to an open process to promptly select the next managing director for this very important institution,’ said Lael Brainard, Treasury Undersecretary for International Affairs.” (http://goo.gl/GTqOo)

5/19/2011 — “In Washington, US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said: “We want to see an open process that leads to a prompt succession for the Fund’s new managing director.” (http://goo.gl/Gp9Bu)