China would support Finance Minister Christine Lagarde as the next IMF chief, the French government said on Tuesday, backing which would put her in pole position to succeed Dominique Strauss-Kahn. Lagarde has emerged as the leading candidate to replace Strauss-Kahn, who quit last week to fight sexual assault charges in New York, although Mexico is pushing its central bank chief as an alternative and many emerging nations say it is time for Europe's 60-year grip on the job to be loosened.
European governments want to retain their traditional control over the leadership of the multilateral lender while it is involved in major bailouts of Greece, Ireland and Portugal. A number, including Britain and Italy, have said they would back Lagarde and Ireland added its support on Tuesday. Germany has yet to declare but Chancellor Angela Merkel says she rates Lagarde highly.
"It's a European consensus," France's budget minister and government spokesman Francois Baroin told Europe 1 radio, asked about Lagarde as a possible contender for the job. "The euro needs our attention, we need to have the Europeans (on board), the Chinese support the candidacy of Christine Lagarde," he said.
China's foreign ministry said it had no comment on whether Beijing would back Lagarde, a 55-year-old former lawyer. The one potential hitch facing Lagarde is a possible legal probe into her role in a 2008 payout to a prominent businessman to settle a dispute with a state-owned bank. Judges will rule on June 10 - the same date countries must submit candidates for the IMF job - on whether to launch an inquiry
Last week, the head of China's central bank, Zhou Xiaochuan, said the International Monetary Fund's leadership should reflect the growing stature of emerging economies, but he stopped short of saying its new boss should be from an emerging economy. An advisor to the People's Bank of China, Xia Bin, told Reuters a bigger issue than the succession was the United States' dominant voting share at the IMF.
Wu Qing, a researcher with the Development Research Centre government think tank in Beijing, said it seemed logical China would support Lagarde or any other well-qualified European. Ireland's Europe Minister Lucinda Creighton said it was quite likely Ireland would back a Lagarde candidacy.
"Already you have the backing of New Zealand and a number of European member states for Christine Lagarde. I think it's quite possible that the US will row in behind her as well," Irish Europe Minister Lucinda Creighton told state broadcaster RTE. A "gentleman's agreement" has always had a European lead the IMF and an American the World Bank, but fast-growing emerging nations are seeking a larger role in global organisations.
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