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| French Finance Minister Bruno Le Mer in Paris. “Reuters” |
 Arab and international |
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Economy News Baghdad French Finance Minister Bruno Le Mire said on Saturday that Europe’s finance ministers must find a compromise candidate to replace Christine Lagarde as head of the International Monetary Fund. EU leaders nominated Lagarde last week to replace Mario Draghi as president of the European Central Bank, raising questions about who would replace them in the IMF. The French minister said on the sidelines of the Economics and Business Conference in southern France that the finance ministers of Europe will discuss the matter at a meeting in Brussels on Tuesday. “We should reach a compromise on the European level,” he told reporters. “I hope to agree on the best candidate, the best European candidate for the International Monetary Fund.” Asked whether Bank of England governor Mark Carney, who holds the passports of Britain, Canada and Ireland, could be nominated as a European candidate, he said: “If we have a good European candidate we may have a good candidate for the IMF.” A French official said Le Mire was due to discuss the matter with President Emmanuel Macaron this week and was likely to talk to Carney before. The official added that France understands that support for Karni is gaining momentum. Adding that if France decided to support him, it would be sooner rather than later. The IMF director is usually European, while the head of the sister institution is the World Bank. At times, large emerging markets have sought to break this double monopoly and advance their candidates. Since the World Bank presidency recently went to American David Malpas, the French official says there is no reason why a European figure should not take over the IMF presidency again. Carney, who also served as Governor of the Bank of Canada, is widely respected in international policy circles. |
