US backs French finance minister at IMF

The U.S. announced Tuesday it will support French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde as director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner said Lagarde has “exceptional talent and broad experience” for the position, and that the U.S. was encouraged by the broad support she had won from developing countries.

Lagarde has been seen as the front-runner for the position from nearly the moment former IMF Director Dominque Strauss-Kahn resigned after being charged with sexual assault in New York. With U.S. support, there is little doubt she will win the job.

The IMF’s head position has by tradition gone to a European official, while a U.S. citizen has always led the World Bank.

The U.S. had not thrown its weight behind Lagarde publicly, however, for fear of alienating developing countries unhappy with a European always at the top of the IMF.

European countries argued it was important that a political leader from that continent lead the IMF given the crisis in the Eurozone caused by the fiscal problems in Greece and other members of the European Union.