URU, Alm.del - 2010-11 (1. samling) - Bilag 187: Orientering om udvælgelse af ny Managing Director for IMF

Briefing on the selection process for the IMF Managing Director20 June 2011Following Dominique Strauss-Kahn’s resignation as Managing Director of the InternationalMonetary Fund (IMF) on 19 May 2011, John Lipsky, the First Deputy Managing Director tookover the transition as Acting Managing Director.The IMF immediately launched the process for recruiting a new Managing Director. TheIMF’s Managing Director is the Chairperson of the 24-member Executive Board and the Headof all IMF staff. The Managing Director may be selected by the Executive Board through amajority of cast votes for a renewable five year term. In the past, the Board has made suchappointments by consensus. Once selected, the Managing Director appoints a First DeputyManaging Director and two Deputy Managing Directors.Countries could submit the names of their candidates until 10 June 2011 through theirExecutive Directors or through their Fund Governors. Thereafter, the IMF confirmed thenames of the two candidates nominated. The IMF is not considering geographicalpreferences in its pre-selection procedure. The two candidates are--Ms. Christine Lagarde (France), Minister of Economy, Industry and Employment, andMr. Agustín Carstens (Mexico), Governor of the Bank of Mexico, as well as formerDeputy Managing Director of the IMF.

This means that for the first time in IMF history, the Managing Director could be a non-European and/or a female. Another candidate, Stanley Fischer, Governor of the Bank ofIsrael, was ruled out. Grigori A. Marchenko, President of Kazakhstan’s Central Bank, was apotential candidate but withdrew from the running.The Executive Board will meet with both candidates at the IMF’s headquarters inWashington, D.C. Mr. Carstens’ meeting is scheduled for 21 June, while Ms. Lagarde willmeet the Executive Directors on 22 June 2011. Thereafter, the Executive Board will gather todiscuss the strengths of the candidates and make a selection. The objective is to completethe selection process by 30 June 2011.On the candidatesBefore taking over as France’s Minister of Economy, Industry and Employment, Ms. Lagardehas also acted as the country’s Trade Minister from 2005 to 2007, and has also served asChairwoman of the international law firm Baker & McKenzie. Ms. Lagarde has stated thatshe will push reforms at the IMF to give Brazil and other emerging economies moreinfluence at the Fund. She is also planning intensified poverty reduction and aid distribution

measures in developing countries. She has been trying to reassure countries, such as China,South Africa and Brazil, who are opposed to the convention of having a European ManagingDirector, that she will serve the Fund neither as a European, nor as French. Indeed, much ofMs. Lagarde’s campaign has been focused on ensuring that she will pay close attention tothe needs of emerging countries. Ms. Lagarde would be the first woman to head the IMF.Prior to heading Mexico’s Central Bank, Mr. Carstens has been Deputy Managing Director atthe IMF, and Minister of Finance under President Felipe Calderon. His potential election asIMF Managing Director might entail important changes in the organisation’s work withdeveloping countries as well as its governance structure (voting rights, etc.). Mr. Carstenshas stated that his experience working with developing economies makes him an idealcandidate for the job. He considers that the balance of economic power has shifted since thebeginning of the financial crisis, and that while Europe and the US have been struggling toget their economies back on track, Latin American and Asian economies have beenexperiencing good growth rates. According to Mr. Carstens, this imbalance would lead to aconflict of interest should a European be nominated to head the Fund. Mr. Carstens has alsourged for stricter measures to solve the euro-zone debt crisis.In recent days, both candidates have been campaigning globally to win the backing of asmany countries as possible. So far Ms. Lagarde has won support from European Unioncountries such as Germany, Norway and the UK, as well as from the DRC, Egypt, Indonesia,Ivory Coast, South Korea, and the United Arab Emirates. European Commission PresidentJosé Manuel Barroso, the Members of the European Commission, and US Secretary of StateHillary Clinton have also made their support public.Mr. Carstens has the back up of Belize, Bolivia, Colombia, the Dominican Republic,Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Spain, Uruguay, and Venezuela.Brazil, India, Japan and the United States have not yet voiced their support.PNoWB and the IMFThe IMF has emerged as the central institution to address the international economic andfinancial crisis in close cooperation with the G20 and other international organizations.PNoWB in 2011 launched a new partnership with the IMF, in recognition of the central roleparliamentarians played during the global economic and financial crisis, and continue to playin its aftermath. The new partnership also cements the ongoing cooperation with the IMFover the past few years. Parliamentarians are central actors in economic decision-making,and this closer collaboration attests to the importance of IMF-parliamentarian engagementworldwide.Through this cooperation, the two organisations will ensure regular parliamentaryparticipation in a parliamentary workshop during the World Bank/IMF Spring and AnnualMeetings, as well as PNoWB’s Annual Conference, and organise a field visit. The partnershipwill continue under the leadership of the new Managing Director.