Emerging nations seek to break Europe's grip

Washington: Emerging nations have yet to unite behind a candidate to take over as the head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), even as they reiterate their long-held stance that the position should not be reserved for a European.

Brazil and South Africa have expressed a desire for an end to the tradition of the IMF's managing director's job going to Europe, just as they oppose the convention that the head of the World Bank is always an American.

Chile and China also have said that the position should be filled "on merit".

The resignation from the IMF of Dominique Strauss-Kahn, now in jail in New York pending the hearings of charges of sexual assault against him, has brought the sensitivities surrounding the job to the fore.

For many emerging countries, the sinecures at the top of the World Bank and the IMF symbolise the old order established after the Second World War, which they argue is no longer representative of the global economy.

Divergent interests

"The depth of quality individuals from the emerging markets — not just in Asia — has expanded significantly over the past decade and it would be an injustice to restrict the choice to Europe alone," Korn Chatikavanij, Thailand's finance minister, told the Financial Times.

"The IMF is very much a part of the global financial community and should be looking for the best candidate from across the globe"

At the same time, the assorted countries wanting change have divergent economic interests and political alliances and have struggled to organise themselves as a coherent bloc in issues such as the IMF leadership.

The US has discussed the possibility of putting David Lipton, a former treasury official, into the job of deputy managing director, in place of John Lipsky, who has announced he will retire.

Lipton could then act as a stand-in managing director until a permanent replacement is found.

Lipton is now at the White House, as part of President Barack Obama's economic team.

Pravin Gordhan, South Africa finance minister, said Europeans "must be alive to changes in the world".

Gordhan floated the name of Trevor Manuel, who was a long-serving finance minister in South Africa and who is now head of the national planning commission.

India has been more cautious on possible changes in the leadership of the IMF, making little public comment on the management of any succession. Montek Singh Ahluwalia, the influential deputy chairman of India's planning commission, has sought to damp speculation that he could be a possible candidate for the position of IMF chief.

"I am not putting my name forward for any of these things," said Ahluwalia, a former senior official at the World Bank and IMF.

— Financial Times