Thaindian News

Washington, June 29 (IANS) French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde was named the first female head of International Monetary Fund (IMF) after the United States, India and some other fast-growing emerging nations backed her.

Lagarde, 55, won the job over Mexican central bank governor Agustin Carstens after gaining a reputation as a skilled negotiator during the financial crisis within both the Group of 20 and the European Union.

Indian Finance Minster Pranab Mukherjee, who is here for annual economic talks with the US, said India supported Lagarde because it wanted to be part of the consensus that was forming around her.

Mukherjee also considered Lagarde a worthy candidate though he wanted the IMF’s selection mechanism to be more transparent. “Of course she has merit. Otherwise, why should I be supporting her?” he said.

Besides India, Lagarde won the support of several large emerging market countries, including Brazil and China, over her Mexican rival.

She will begin her five-year term as the IMF’s 11th leader July 5, in place of Dominique Strauss-Kahn, who resigned after his arrest on charges of sexual assault on a New York hotel housekeeper, Washington based financial institution announced.

Lagarde’s appointment as the first woman to head the IMF comes after a series of firsts. She is the first and only woman finance chief in the Group of Seven nations, and she was the first female chairman of Chicago-based Baker & McKenzie, the world’s fifth biggest law firm by revenue last year.

Lagarde was appointed finance minister by French President Nicolas Sarkozy in June 2007, just before the onset of the global financial crisis.

(Arun Kumar can be contacted at arun.kumar@ians.in)