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Egypt 'affirmative' yet uncommitted on Lagarde IMF candidacy French finance minister praises a 'very affirmative' Egyptian response to her IMF leadership bid but officials say no decision has been made on which candidate they favour
Egypt stopped short of backing a candidate to head the International Monetary Fund on Sunday, as French finance minister Christine Lagarde visited Cairo as part of a whirlwind tour of emerging countries aimed at drumming up support for her leadership bid. After meetings with Egypt's finance and foreign ministers and the governor of Egypt's central bank, Lagarde told reporters the Egyptian government had been "very affirmative" towards her candidacy. According to her Egyptian counterpart, however, Egypt is yet to take a decision on who it will back. Minister of Finance Samir Radwan said Egypt is considering the record of each of the three candidates for IMF managing director and focusing on their performances during the 2008 global financial crisis. "It is in the interest of Egypt to choose the candidate with the best practical and scientific experience ... as well as the best personal abilities," said Radwan. Egypt is on the 24-member executive board which is due to reach a consensus on naming the new IMF head at the end of June. The IMF's top post opened unexpectedly after Frenchman Dominique Strauss-Kahn resigned on 18 May to fight sexual assault charges in New York. The deadline for applications to replace him closed at midnight Friday and produced three options -- Lagarde; Agustin Carstens, head of Mexico's central bank; and Stanley Fischer, governor of the Bank of Israel and former IMF deputy chief. The support of emerging countries is thought key, with candidates keen to stress they will oversee a shift from previous, harshly prescriptive IMF policies. Lagarde told press in Cairo the IMF has learned from its past mistakes and under her watch would not try to impose a 'one size fits all' solution to diverse economic problems. "The IMF priorities are the development in North Africa and the Middle East and it will take in consideration the particularities and characteristics of each country. I believe in diversity and one example can't serve everybody," she said. Lagarde said the IMF recognised it had made some mistakes in the 1990s by demanding rapid free market reforms from countries ill-prepared to bear them. "I think that in the future we will learn from those ... [and learn] not to repeat them by applying the principles of diversity of the geographic origins of the IMF personnel, but also a doctrine that should take in consideration the particularity of each economy.” Lagarde, who arrived in Egypt from Saudi Arabia, revealed that Bahrain is supporting her bid. She is backed by the European Union and a handful of smaller countries from Georgia to Mauritius. Paris is hopeful that Washington and Beijing will also stand behind her but her worldwide tour is yet to garner the endorsement of emerging powers. A Reuters poll of economists around the world in May found 32 of 56 saw Lagarde as the favorite, although Stanley Fischer won the most votes as "best suited" for the job.
