The Strategist

Christine Lagarde temporarily resigns



07/03/2019 - 11:32



Christine Lagarde temporarily resigned as Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund in connection with nomination of her candidacy for the post of Head of the European Central Bank.



MEDEF via flickr
MEDEF via flickr
63-year-old Lagarde made this decision after consultation with the ethics committee of the executive board of the IMF. She called the proposal to lead the ECB "honor".

The duties of the IMF Managing Director will be performed by Lagarde’s First Deputy, American David Lipton.

Lagarde led the IMF in 2011, after resignation against the background of the sexual scandal with Dominique Strauss-Kahn. She became the first female director of the institution.

Lagarde claimed that she was in favor of increasing influence of developing countries in the IMF. However, she wasn’t able to complete the next round of revision of the IMF’s quotas, which was supposed to lead to strengthening the position of developing countries, because of the position of the USA.

Traditionally, the IMF's managing director is elected by a representative of one of the European countries. The other system-forming institution of the post-war world financial system, the World Bank, is headed by an American.

The current ECB Chairman Mario Draghi, like Lagard, has been in office since 2011.

source: reuters.com