Europe needs to find candidate to head IMF
AIX-EN-PROVENCE / FRANCE 7th July: European finance ministers have an urgent need to find a suitable candidate to replace Christine Lagarde as the chief of the (IMF), French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said in a statement on Saturday.
European leaders have nominated Lagarde a few days ago to succeed Mario Draghi as president of the European Central Bank.
Speaking on the sidelines of an economics and business conference in southern France, Le Maire said that European finance ministers would discuss the issue at a meeting in Brussels on Tuesday. They need to compromise at the European level. He hoped that they would find a compromise about the best candidate, the best European candidate for the IMF, he explained to journalists.
He added response to a question that If we have a good European candidate, we will have a good candidate for the IMF.
Though Carney was born and raised in Canada, is also a former governor of the Bank of Canada, and also holds British and Irish passports and also has Canadian citizenship.
A French official said that Le Maire was due to discuss the issue with President Emmanuel Macron this weekend and that he was likely to speak with Carney beforehand. France is fully aware that support has been building for Carney, the official has added, saying that if Paris decides to back him then it would be sooner rather than later.
However, there is concern about the precedent backing Carney would set since he is “basically a Canadian” even though he is highly regarded, the official said.
