Christine Lagarde reappointed as IMF’s MD
Christine Lagarde has been reappointed as the Managing Director of the IMF for the second consecutive term which would start on 5 July 2016. The IMF Board praised Lagarde for steering the global economy through bad times and her leadership during her first term. Influential Board members backed her reappointment ensuring her a second term. The decision was taken by consensus.
Who is Christine Lagarde?
Christine Lagarde is a lawyer and politician of France's Union Popular Movement. She was appointed as the Managing Director of International Monetary Fund on 5 July 2011. Prior to her IMF term, she held many key ministerial positions in the French government. She is the first woman to chair Baker & McKenzie, and she is a well-known antitrust and labor lawyer.
What is International Monetary Fund?
International Monetary Fund is an international organization which was formulated at a United Nations conference in 1944. It was formed in 1945 with its headquarters in Washington D.C. and it has 188 member nations. IMF is liable to and controlled by its member nations, and works towards global financial stability & cooperation, global trade, economic growth, and to curb poverty and unemployment worldwide.
Christine’s career prior to IMF
Lagarde joined the international law firm Baker & McKenzie in 1981 and later became the first chairwoman of the firm in 1999. She was France's Trade Minister from 2005-2007 in Dominique-de-Villepin's government. In 2007, under Francois Fillion's government, she was the Minister of Agriculture and later in the same year became the Minister of Economic Affairs, Finance and Employment.
Appointment as the MD of IMF
In 2011, Lagarde's appointment as IMF head was supported by governments of Britain, Russia, United States, Germany, China, India and Brazil. She succeeded Dominique Strauss-Kahn after his controversial resignation as the chief of IMF. When she was appointed, the world economy was slowly starting to recover from financial crisis. To decrease inequality and poverty, Lagarde had supported efforts to increase female labor participation.
Controversies during her IMF term
Lagarde made derogatory comments on the Greek Economy during an interview in 2012. She commented on Greece's tax avoidance and also suggested that Greece's nice time was over, and they were facing payback time. After an investigation agency had raided her apartment, a French court ordered Lagarde to stand trial for her alleged involvement in the €403 million arbitration deal in Bernard Tapien's favor.
Ranked in the most powerful list
In 2009, Christine Lagarde was ranked the best Finance Minister in the Eurozone by Financial Times. She was ranked as the fifth Most Powerful Woman in the world in 2014 and sixth in 2015 by Forbes.
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