The International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) Board of executive directors announced on Wednesday that it has approved Kristalina Georgieva to be its next leader effective October 1.
The Bulgarian economist will take over from Christine Lagarde, who has been selected as the next president of the European Central Bank.
This is what she shared in a statement published on IMF’s official website:
It is a huge responsibility to be at the helm of the IMF at a time when global economic growth continues to disappoint, trade tensions persist, and debt is at historically high levels.
As I noted in my statement to the Executive Board, our immediate priority is to help countries minimize the risk of crises and be ready to cope with downturns. Yet, we should not lose sight of our long-term objective – to support sound monetary, fiscal and structural policies to build stronger economies and improve people’s lives. This means also dealing with issues like inequalities, climate risks and rapid technological change.
LeapRate already reported that the European Union finance ministers settled on Georgieva as their candidate in early August. She was the only candidate put forward by the rest of the world. Bulgaria has been part of the European Union since 2007, yet considered a developing economy. Kristalina Georgieva is going to be the first IMF leader from an emerging market.
The 66-year-old Georgieva has built up a strong background in the World Bank, where she joined in 1993, and the European Commission, having held various senior roles in both institutions.
The IMF has more than $1 trillion of resources and a mandate to bolster international financial stability. The United States is its largest individual shareholder, however it has less voting power than the EU countries.