Lagarde leads IMF race, competition from Mexico

The Mexican Finance Ministry said it would nominate central bank chief Agustin Carstens, placing a prominent emerging market name into the race to lead the global lender.

The International Monetary Fund has promised a merit-based process to replace former leader Dominique Strauss-Kahn of France, who is under house arrest in New York on charges he attempted to rape a hotel maid.

Europeans have held the top IMF job since its creation in 1945 and Lagarde is widely considered the front-runner.

French Interior Minister Claude Gueant, a top advisor to French President Nicolas Sarkozy, said on Sunday Lagarde would make an excellent head of the Washington-based lender.

"And besides, many countries support her," he told Europe 1 radio, becoming the first member of France's cabinet to openly tout her credentials.

Germany and Britain also have signaled they would line up behind Lagarde, who has experience managing the euro-zone debt crisis the IMF is now focused on.A senior EU official said there was virtual consensus on Lagarde in the 27-nation European Union after telephone consultations among the leaders. Her candidacy is expected to win US backing, which would tip the votes in her favor at the IMF board.

Strauss-Kahn, a leading contender for the French presidency until his May 15 detention on sexual assault charges, spent his second day out on bail under electronic monitoring and armed guard at a temporary apartment in lower Manhattan. He has vowed to fight the charges; Kazinform cites China Daily.

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