EU govts vote on IMF candidate in attempt to break deadlock – Paris

EU governments began voting on Friday for a candidate to lead the International Monetary Fund (IMF), France’s Finance Ministry said. The move, seen as unusual, underscores lingering mistrust between northern members of the bloc against the south, AFP said.

Four people remain in the running after Portuguese Finance Minister Mario Centeno dropped out, and Brexit-bound Britain decided not to field a candidate. French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire is leading the effort to find common ground on the EU’s pick to head the Washington-based global lender, which by tradition is led by a European.

The current IMF chief, Christine Lagarde of France, was nominated to become the next head of the European Central Bank following the end of Mario Draghi’s term. There has been no consensus on a candidate as nations in southern Europe have long memories of the tough austerity measures imposed as part of the IMF-backed debt bailouts.

The candidates are Spanish Finance Minister Nadia Calvino, former Dutch Finance Minister Jeroen Dijsselbloem, Bank of Finland chief Olli Rehn, and the World Bank’s second-in-command Kristalina Georgieva of Bulgaria.