## Press Release: Statement by Christine Lagarde to the IMF Executive Board _IMF News, June 23, 2011_ ## Source details **Canonical URL:** [Press Release: Statement by Christine Lagarde to the IMF Executive Board](https://www.imf.org/en/news/articles/2015/09/14/01/49/pr11253) ## Other formats - [Markdown version](/en/news/articles/2015/09/14/01/49/pr11253/index.md) - [Structured JSON version](/en/news/articles/2015/09/14/01/49/pr11253/index.json) - [Bundle manifest](/en/news/articles/2015/09/14/01/49/pr11253/bundle-manifest.json) ## Bibliographic details - Published: June 23, 2011 --- ### Context and procedural details - Press Release No. 11/253 - Date of statement: June 23, 2011 - Audience: IMF Executive Board - Candidate status: Christine Lagarde, candidate for the position of the Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) ### Candidate's framing of the Managing Director role - Three key duties of a MD: - Duty 1: Chairing the Board - Value of a permanent resident Board; Board legitimacy is essential to Fund action. - Proposes a Board retreat before the recess to lay foundations of trust and respect. - Duty 2: Managing the staff - Staff described as the Fund's key asset; staff independence must be protected. - Acknowledges "recent events have left open wounds" and "John's departure" creates a gap. - Emphasizes restoring staff pride, integrity, work ethics, and building an integrated, coherent senior management team to overcome "silo-mentality", achieve diversity, and gain cohesion and coherence. - Calls for focusing on serving the membership and the Fund's higher goal rather than being inward-looking. - Duty 3: Representing the institution and bringing a vision - MD must lead by example consistent with values of integrity, independence, and discretion. - MD shall be the loyal and strong voice of the whole membership, speaking the truth to members, "be them small or large." ### Direction and priorities for the Fund (next five years) - Overarching objective: continuously prove and improve the Fund's legitimacy and effectiveness. - Assessment of recent history: - Under Dominique Strauss-Kahn's leadership, the Fund "repositioned itself at the centre of the global economic and financial system" and learned from the recent financial crisis. - Key principles to lead the Fund: - Relevance - Maintain the Fund's pivotal role in global economic and financial cooperation. - Open to work on changes to the legal framework of surveillance such as the "2007 surveillance decision" or explore changes to the Articles of Agreement. - Responsiveness - Enhance capacity to respond to members' needs, with special dedication to the most vulnerable, "thinking of the low-income countries, especially those in Africa." - Coordination with partners, including the World Bank, is "decisive." - Tougher, more effective, and more consistent surveillance - Improve integration of financial sector expertise into surveillance, cooperating with the Financial Stability Board and other relevant bodies. - Strengthen multilateral surveillance by addressing global interdependencies; proposes that "spill-over reports should become a permanent surveillance tool." - IMF surveillance should factor in structural and public finance issues, as well as social and employment policies. - Advocates for a consolidated multilateral surveillance report (pushed at the last IMFC). - Sufficient resources and adequate tools - Require delivering on commitments made by member countries. - Need better leveraging of Fund resources, notably through enhanced cooperation with regional financial arrangements. - Ensure Fund capacity to address systemic shocks. - Increased legitimacy - Implement promptly the historic governance reform agreed last year; France has shown leadership. - Commit to continuously adapt representation of the Fund, "in particular quotas, to changing economic realities." - Notes "some milestones are coming up in the near future, and they have to be met." - Diversity and team work - Nurture staff dedication and expertise while ensuring equal opportunities and diversity: gender-wise, academic and geographic. - Cites IEO report: "In-breeding leads to group-thinking and 'silo mentality' leads to underperformance." - Asserts diversity will strengthen legitimacy and reinforce effectiveness. ### Specific issues addressed by the candidate - Selection process (Number 1) - Advocates "an open, transparent and merit-based selection process" to allow a large consensus. - Emphasizes the Fund "belongs to no one but its 187 member states." - States being French and being European "should be neither an advantage nor a handicap." - Representing Europe (Number 2) - Declares she is "not here to represent the interest of any given region of the world, but rather the entire membership." - Reiterates the Managing Director's "exclusive duty of loyalty to the Fund." - Conflict of interest (Number 3) - Notes that "Precautionary or disbursing Fund programs are in place in all regions of the world." - Argues that excluding candidates on the basis of nationality would "significantly narrow the scope for eligibility for candidacy" and is "impossible to 'operationalize'." - Observes that such a rule would eliminate current candidates even though "France has no arrangement with the IMF." - Describes her role in negotiating the economic governance package in the euro-zone and implementing support programs in Greece, Ireland and Portugal; views this as building a strong partnership with the EU. - Commits that if elected she will ensure "full consistency with the Fund’s mission and providing for good stewardship of the Fund’s resources" when providing support to a euro-area member. - Affirms she "will not shrink from the necessary candor and toughness in my discussions with the European leaders." - States "There is no room for benevolence when tough choices must be made" and emphasizes needed adjustments by Greek authorities to restore fiscal sustainability and competitiveness. ### Personal credentials and commitments - Presents herself as: - "a woman, hoping to add to the diversity and balance of this institution." - "former head of an international law firm with a dedication to integrity, to the highest moral standards and a belief in participative management." - "a Finance minister who has been tested in times of crisis." - "a former Chair of the European Union Ecofin Council and of the G20 Finance Meetings, with a widely-recognized track record and acknowledged leadership abilities." - Pledge if entrusted as MD for "the next five years": - Build a Fund adapted to a changing world; "responsive, ready and able to meet all challenges, both foreseeable and unforeseeable." - Ensure the Fund is "cooperative, listening and coordinating effectively with all stakeholders, and continuously striving to build consensus." - Strive for a Fund that is "legitimate and even-handed, to reflect a changing world." *Press Release: Statement by Christine Lagarde to the IMF Executive Board (June 23, 2011).* --- ## Content in this bundle - [Pr11253apdf (PDF)](/-/media/websites/imf/imported/external/arabic/np/sec/pr/2011/pr11253apdf.pdf){rel="external" type="application/pdf"} - [Pr11253cpdf (PDF)](/-/media/websites/imf/imported/external/chinese/np/sec/pr/2011/pr11253cpdf.pdf){rel="external" type="application/pdf"} - [Pr11253rpdf (PDF)](/-/media/websites/imf/imported/external/russian/np/sec/pr/2011/pr11253rpdf.pdf){rel="external" type="application/pdf"} --- ## References - [France and the IMF](http://www.imf.org/external/country/FRA/index.htm) - [Greece and the IMF](http://www.imf.org/external/country/GRC/index.htm) - [Ireland and the IMF](http://www.imf.org/external/country/IRL/index.htm) - [Portugal and the IMF](http://www.imf.org/external/country/PRT/index.htm) - [Press Releases](https://www.imf.org/en/news/searchnews) - [Statement by Agustín Carstens to IMF Executive Board](https://www.imf.org/external/np/sec/pr/2011/pr11246.htm) - [Managing Director Selection Process](https://www.imf.org/external/np/exr/facts/mdsp.htm) - [MD Selection](https://www.imf.org/external/np/exr/faq/mdselection.htm) - [PRESS CENTER](http://presscenter.imf.org/) - [https://www.imf.org/en/home](https://www.imf.org/en/home) _Source: https://www.imf.org/en/news/articles/2015/09/14/01/49/pr11253_