The Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund Christine Lagarde has announced that she would step down from her role on July 5, 2016.
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With her term coming to an end in July, the International Monetary Fund formally began accepting nominations for who will guide the global crisis lender for the next five years.
At a panel in Davos, Switzerland, where the World Economic Forum is being held, Ms Lagarde said she was honoured but did not want to confirm whether she would agree to stand again.
Ms Lagarde has been seen as all but a lock to be reappointed, though concern about legal charges related to actions taken when she was French finance minister dampened those expectations slightly in December.
Chinese stock markets have had a rollercoaster over the past six months, with authorities trying various measures to stem the volatility of the main Shanghai share index.
The IMF executive board aims to have decided by March 3. Recent developments may have slightly elevated the risks the case potentially represents to her bid since she was appointed in 2011, though the issue didn’t hinder her bid back then.
Ms. Lagarde over the past five years has sought to pull emerging markets closer to the IMF’s fold, seeing their enfranchisement as critical to ensuring the fund’s influence on their policies. The Greek program fostered a perception that the fund’s European and USA leadership gave its Western members preferential treatment. She also used her bully pulpit as the world’s top economic adviser to push Europe into recapitalizing its banking sector.
“I’ll be waiting before I say anything about that”, she said.
She added that she does not think China will actually complete the reform undertaking in line with the criteria attached to its entry into the IMF’s special drawing rights basket.
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Bertrand Benoit contributed to this article.
