Lagarde expected to take IMF reins

French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde is expected to be chosen as early as today to be the new leader of the International Monetary Fund.

Ms Lagarde would be the first woman to lead the lending organisation.

She would replace Dominique Strauss-Kahn, who resigned last month after being charged with sexually assaulting a New York City hotel housekeeper.

Ms Lagarde was opposed by Agustin Carstens, a Mexican central banker whose candidacy never caught fire, even among developing countries.

Ms Lagarde has broad support in Europe. And a high-ranking Chinese official said that Beijing supports Ms Lagarde, according to several reports.

US officials have not publicly backed any candidate. But most analysts expect the Obama administration to support Ms Lagarde. Combined, the United States, Europe and China hold a majority of votes on the IMF’s board.

The 24-member executive board represents the 187 members of the IMF, which lends to financially troubled countries. The board members will seek to agree on a new managing director by consensus. The IMF’s board will meet today.

Ms Lagarde’s selection will likely provoke protests from developing countries. Under an informal arrangement dating to the end of the Second World War, a European always leads the IMF and an American runs its sister organisation, the World Bank.

The United States also names the IMF’s top deputy. Developing nations have pushed to open the positions to candidates outside the United States and Europe.