The post i wrote about Ms Lagarde's likelihood of heading the IMF has generated the highest number of page views ever on my blog .In a bid to satisfy the curiosity about the woman who has been labeled France's golden girl i am adding another post on what she has been upto since she announced her candidacy for the job as well as links to articles on her campaign tour .
Not a lot has been written about this woman who was voted one of the best performing Ministers in the European Union and it is only after her recent announcement that she would be running for the top job at the International Monetary Fund that there has been a flurry of activity in trying to understand what drives her,what her policies maybe,about her background and generally it seems people curiosity about her is insatiable.
The previous post which can be read here was written even before Christine Lagarde had declared her candidacy for the position of the Managing Director of the Financial body and now that nominations from the 187 member countries close on June 10,she is a leading favorite with Mexican's Central Bank Governor Agustin's Carstens a close second.
The American educated Lagarde who headed the law firm Baker and McKenzie in Chicago has received backing from most of Europe and the US.Carstens who was a former deputy managing director of the IMF is hoping that countries from the emerging market economies will support his candidacy.He was quoted in an article on Bloomberg.com ass finding it strange that Europe had already endorsed Lagarde for the job even before nominations had closed and all candidates were known.The article can be read here and includes Carstens call for merit to be used to gauge candidates qualified to head the 60 year old financial institution founded after World War Two.
Currently Lagarde is in India to drum up support for her candidacy and it has been said she will also visit some African countries to seek support from them.Lagarde started her campaign in Brazil and her reason for doing so as reported in the Businessweek was because it is an emerging market ,the largest in Latin America and it carries a lot of weight on the international scene.She has also been quoted as saying she will seek to have a bigger role by developing countries at the IMF and is expected to visit some African countries on her campaign tour.
Odds are that she may get the job though she faces a possible inquiry into a settlement that was awarded to a business tycoon Bernard Tapie who had accused French bank Credit Lyonnais for misleading him when he sold his Addidas shares in 1993.The case that had dragged on for years was finally referred by Lagarde to an arbitration panel that saw the businessman walk away with a 285 million Euro settlement.The full details of the alleged scandal can be read here.
