Christine Lagarde, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) officially announced on Friday, January 22, 2016, she would be a candidate for a second mandate as head of the institution. « Yes, I am running for a second mandate. Since the opening of the procedure, I have had the honour of receiving support from France, Great Britain, Germany, China and Korea, » she confirmed on France 2 television.
Former French Finance Minister under the presidency of Nicolas Sarkozy, Lagarde will end her mandate on July 5, 2016. She was elected to lead the IMF in 2011, winning the position over then Governor of the Bank of Mexico Augustin Carstens and taking over the direction of the institution from Dominique Strauss-Kahn, swept away by the Sofitel New York scandal.
Christine Lagarde can already count on some key endorsements, including the United States, first shareholder of the IMF and home country to the institution’s headquarters of Washington, D.C.
“I think she has done a great job and I look forward to continuing working with her,” said Jack Lew, United States Secretary the Treasury. On the European front, EU Commissioner for Economic and Financial Affairs Pierre Moscovici declared Christine Lagarde has been an “excellent general director of the IMF. She does her work with a lot of efficiency and credibility. I would be very happy to continue the collaboration with her.”
The day after the opening of the designation process by the financial institution, no other candidate had yet emerged to challenge her.
