French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde said today she will stand as candidate to be the new managing director of the International Monetary Fund after Dominique Strauss-Kahn resigned earlier this month.
'I have decided to present my candidacy for the head of the IMF,' Lagarde told a news conference in Paris.
She added that she had been encouraged by the support she had received from a number of nations.
Several European countries, including Britain, have come out in support of Lagarde as a candidate but she may face opposition from Brazil, Russia, China and South Africa, who would like to see an emerging market nation hold the top IMF job.
Read more about the French Finance Minister here
Minister Lagarde said today that her conscience was clear regarding a possible legal inquiry into her role in a large settlement to a prominent French businessman in 2008 as she had acted within the law. 'I have every confidence in this procedure because my conscience is perfectly clear,' Lagarde said.
'I acted in the interest of the state and in respect of the law,' she added.
French judges are due to decide on June 10 whether to launch a formal inquiry into Lagarde's role in awarding the payout to businessman Bernard Tapie, a friend of President Nicolas Sarkozy, to settle a long-running legal dispute with a state-owned bank.
Barroso gives full backing to Lagarde IMF candidacy
The head of the European Commission, a key player in the euro crisis, backed French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde in her bid to lead the IMF despite a French judicial cloud.
'I fully endorse the candidacy of Mrs Christine Lagarde for the post of Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund,' commission head Jose Manuel Barroso said in a statement released moments after Lagarde announced her decision to run.
Lagarde, 55, told reporters she had reached her decision 'after mature reflection' .
Barroso said Lagarde carried the respect of the international community as Europe seeks to build a consensus around a single candidate to replace fallen fellow Frenchman Dominique Strauss-Kahn at the Fund.
The commission, 'believes that the qualities of Mrs Lagarde, as well as her engagement on the strengthening of global economic governance, are indispensable to accomplish the mission of the IMF and its vital contribution to the stability of the international economy,' Mr Barroso said.
Meanwhile, Berlin 'strongly backs' the candidacy of French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde as head the International Monetary Fund, German government spokesman Steffen Seibert said today.
'The government of the Federal Republic strongly backs her candidacy,' Seibert said.
