Lagarde visits Brazil in campaign for IMF job

France's finance minister, Christine Lagarde (R) with Brazilian counterpart Guido Mantega.

Reuters

By RFI

France's finance minister Christine Lagarde held talks in with her Brazilian counterpart on Monday in a bid to enlist support for her candidacy for the post of next chief of the International Monetary Fund.

Christine Lagarde told Guido Mantega and Brazil's central bank chief Alexandre Tombini that the main priority was "to continue and deepen reforms" in running the IMF.

She emphasised the need for "relatively stable and predictable" exchange rates, in response to criticism from emerging economies that the low value of the US dollar impacts negatively on their respective currencies.

Brazil is one of the emerging economic powers which are challenging Europe's grip on the IMF, but have failed to agree on a candidate of their own.

Since the institutions were set up in 1945, there has been an unofficial deal between Washington and Europe, that an American should run the World Bank, while a European should be the boss at the IMF.

Christine Lagarde has the support of European leaders and the United States, but she faces opposition from two rivals: Mexico's central bank chief Agustin Carstens and Grigory Marchenko, the boss of Kazakhstan's central bank.

The IMF job is vacant following the resignation on 19 May of Dominique Strauss-Kahn, who is under house arrest in New York on charges of attempted rape.

The IMF is due to publish a full list of candidates by 17 June, and the final decision is to be announced by 30 June.

The executive board, whose members represent a country or a group of countries, is aiming to select the next chief by consensus, but could resort to a vote.