The International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director, Christine Lagarde, has resigned her appointment and will be leaving the Bretton Woods institution on September 12.
IMF’s Executive Board in a statement yesterday in Washington DC, said it had accepted her resignation and would soon kick-start the process to find her replacement.
“Today the IMF Executive Board accepted Managing Director Christine Lagarde’s resignation from the Fund with effect from September 12, 2019.
“With this decision by Managing Director Lagarde, the IMF Executive Board will initiate promptly the process of selecting the next managing director and will communicate in a timely fashion.
“The Executive Board has the utmost confidence in Mr. David Lipton, who remains Acting Managing Director of the Fund in the interim period,” it said.
Lagarde had announced in a statement yesterday that she had submitted her resignation from the IMF and it would go into effect in September.
“I have met with the Executive Board and submitted my resignation from the Fund with effect from September 12, 2019.
“The relinquishment of my responsibilities as managing director announced previously will remain in effect until then.
“With greater clarity now on the process for my nomination as ECB President and the time it will take, I have made this decision in the best interest of the Fund, as it will expedite the selection process for my successor,” Lagarde said.
According to her, while the Executive Board would be taking the needed steps to proceed toward selecting a new managing director, David Lipton would remain the Fund’s acting managing director.
On July 9, the EU Economic and Financial Affairs Council adopted a formal recommendation to nominate Lagarde as president of the European Central Bank.
Her nomination will now be discussed by the ECB governing council and the European Parliament, and the final appointment by European Council in October.
She was named as the next Managing Director of the IMF for a five-year term, starting on July 5, 2011, replacing Dominique Strauss-Khan.
Her appointment is the 11th consecutive appointment of a European to head the IMF.
In 2014, Lagarde was ranked the fifth most powerful woman in the world by Forbes magazine.
She was reelected by consensus for a second five-year term, starting July 5, 2016, being the only candidate nominated for the post.
In December 2016, a French court found her guilty of negligence for her role in the Bernard Tarpie arbitration, but did not impose a penalty.
In 2018, Forbes ranked her number three on its World’s 100 Most Powerful Women list.
On July 2, 2019, she was nominated by the European Council to succeed Mario Draghi as President of the European Central Bank on November 1, 2019.
After consultations with the European Parliament, Lagarde is about to be the first woman in the position of President of the European Central Bank.