Christine Lagarde (photo) is officially stepping down as the Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund IMF next September 12, the Executive Board said on July 16.
This announcement comes when Ms. Largarde, 63, was nominated early this month as the head of the European Central Bank (ECB) and is expected to take office in November. For the time being, David Lipton, the Fund’s First Deputy Managing Director, is acting as MD.
Re-elected in 2016 as head of the Bretton Woods Institution, Christine Lagarde became the first woman to hold this position in 2011, interim periods excluded, after the scandal that led former MD, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, to resign.
“The Fund has excelled in serving its entire membership over the course of her tenure with cutting-edge policy advice supported by ground-breaking analytical work on a range of macro-critical issues. Her stewardship has been exceptional, and we are grateful for her innovative and visionary leadership,” the IMF statement said.
No details have been provided on her potential successor, but the Board says it “will initiate promptly the process of selecting the next Managing Director and will communicate in a timely fashion.”
Moutiou Adjibi Nourou