Replacement

Christine Lagarde Is Frontrunner for New IMF Chief

French finance minister gets support of U.K., Germany.

Britain, Germany, and France's interior minister have expressed support for French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde to become the new head of the International Monetary Fund, making her the frontrunner to succeed Dominique Strauss-Kahn in the wake of his arrest and resignation. "I hope it will be a European and Christine Lagarde obviously has all the qualities to be an excellent director of the IMF, and besides, many countries support her," said French Interior Minister Claude Gueant, speaking on Europe 1 radio. Britain's Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne called Lagarde “the outstanding candidate for the IMF” while German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said, “Europe would have the best chance to secure the post again with Christine Lagarde, if she decides to run.” The European Union’s 27 members hold the biggest IMF stake, but many emerging economies think continuing to have a European head of the IMF is out of touch with the current world economy. The U.S. has not yet decided whether it will support Lagarde or a non-European.