Bethel Finance news:
French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde said 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," Lagarde told BBC Radio 4 today. "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."
The IMF said in a report prepared for the Group of Eight summit this week that oil-importing nations in the Middle East and North Africa will require more than $160 billion in external funding through 2013. Lagarde, who is vying to become France's fifth IMF chief and maintain Europe's hold on the position, also told the Financial Times she would "remedy the situation" if she found developing countries underrepresented at the fund.
"I don't think it should be a European or an emerging economies candidate" for the top job, Lagarde said. "It should be a good candidate. My sense is that it should be an open, transparent and merit-based process."
While developing nations have called for an end to Europe's 65-year hold on the post, they have failed to unite behind one nominee. Mexican central bank Governor Agustin Carstens is among her rivals for the job, while the Wall Street Journal said today that Bank of Israel Governor Stanley Fischer may also pursue it.
Fischer's Plans
Asked in a Bloomberg Television interview on May 25 whether he would like the post, Fischer said he plans to stay at the helm of the Bank of Israel. He didn't say whether he'll present his candidacy for the role, which he called "terrific."
Russia indicated it still may be possible for the so-called BRICs nations to support a candidate from one of their countries.
"We don't exclude such a possibility," Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told reporters at the G8 summit in Deauville, France today.
Lagarde, 55, emerged as the leading contender to replace Dominique Strauss-Kahn after his resignation last week. The 187- member IMF aims to pick his successor by end June. She is seeking meetings in China and other emerging powers as part of an effort to broaden support for her candidacy beyond Europe.
European Crisis
Lagarde argued that her experience of European structures and governments may help her in the job.
"It might actually be a benefit, it's not decisive, but it may be a benefit to know all these people, to know the intricacies of the European construction, to appreciate the political circumstances and background of each of the leaders," she said.
Julian Jessop, an economist at Capital Economics Ltd. in London, suggested that Lagarde's European credentials will be particularly important because of the region's debt crisis.
"One of the biggest problems facing the global economy over the next few years is European, which is the future of the euro zone," he said. "Being European may not be a bad thing."
G-8 leaders, who are meeting today in Deauville, France, pledged their "strong support" for the pro-democracy movements sweeping the Middle East and North Africa. The IMF proposed granting loans as part of global efforts to help countries in the region strengthen their economies after the surge in pro- democracy movements there.
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