VARIOUS: Economists welcome Dominique Strauss-Kahn's resignation from the IMF, reax latest

Record ID: 559649

  • Title: VARIOUS: Economists welcome Dominique Strauss-Kahn's resignation from the IMF, reax latest
  • Date: 20th May 2011
  • Summary: PARIS, FRANCE (MAY 19, 2011) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF RESIGNATION LETTER OF DOMINIQUE STRAUSS-KAHN PUBLISHED BY INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND NEWSPAPER STAND ON PARIS STREET
  • Embargoed: 4th June 2011 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Usa, France
  • City:
  • Country: France
  • Topics: International Relations,Finance
  • Reuters ID: LVA5BYGEMFRM9VGM1K6BOOJLH6V2
  • Story Text: French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde would be a good candidate to run the International Monetary Fund, a minister said on Thursday (May 19).
    Dominique Strauss-Kahn, himself a former French finance minister, resigned as IMF managing director on Thursday after being arrested at the weekend on charges of attempted rape of a chambermaid in a luxury New York hotel.
    Lagarde has been tipped as the leading candidate to replace him from Europe, which is fighting hard to keep the leadership of the Fund in the face of pressure from fast-growing emerging economies for a decision based more strictly on merit.
    "I am certain she's a strong candidate. I have travelled with her on a number of occasions, namely to Asia and I have been able to see for myself her popularity with ministers of the big emerging countries in Asia. You know that she speaks perfect English, I think she would be a very very good candidate," Thierry Mariani, minister for transport, told France Info radio.
    The French government had no immediate official reaction to Strauss-Kahn's resignation. The issue of his replacement could emerge as a major theme at a summit of Group of Eight leaders in the French seaside town of Deauville next week.
    Economists and Paris residents welcomed the news of Strauss-Kahn's resignation.
    "I think that it was a useful move, useful for the IMF, useful for him most probably," said one passer-by.
    "In any case it was obvious with this story , that if he hadn't resigned, he would've been fired. So I think it's a good thing," said another.
    Economist Mikio Kumada said it would fill the leadership void at a difficult time for markets.
    "It's good news in the sense that it's better not to have any leadership issues in such an important organisation," he told Reuters Insider.
    "As far as... we need to see who will take over his position but in general I do not think the European debt issue is related to any specific problem. It might speed up if you have a person who is (...) more versed in European politics because Europe is very complicated, it's an alliance of dozens of democracies all of which are sovereign. But at the end of the day I think it's an institutional issue not so much a personal issue," he added.
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