2nd July, 2019
The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has announced the appointment of David Lipton, first deputy Managing director to act as the organisation’s helmsman.
This followed the nomination of its managing director, Christine Lagarde, to the presidency of the European Central Bank. The nomination is subject to confirmation by the European Parliament.
“We, the Executive Board of the IMF, take note of the nomination of IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde as President of the European Central Bank.
“We accept Ms. Lagarde’s decision to relinquish her IMF responsibilities temporarily during the nomination period. We have full confidence in First Deputy Managing Director David Lipton as Acting Managing Director of the IMF.”
Christine Madeleine Odette Lagarde, who is 63 years-old is a French lawyer and politician, who had been MD and Chairwoman of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) since 2011. She replaced Dominique Strauss-Kahn, who was embroiled in a sex scandal.
She was reelected by consensus for a second five-year term, starting 5 July 2016.
In France before taking the IMF job, she was Minister of the Economy, Finance and Industry (2007–2011), Minister of Agriculture and Fishing (2007) and Minister of Commerce (2005–2007).
She was the first woman to become Finance Minister of a G8 economy and is the first woman to head the IMF. A noted anti-trust and labour lawyer, Lagarde was the first female chairman of the major international law firm Baker & McKenzie, between 1999 and 2004. On 16 November 2009, the Financial Times ranked her the best Finance Minister in the Eurozone.