BRICS nations oppose IMF MD from Europe

Washington, May 25: Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa came out in the open on Tuesday to oppose the notion that the next Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) should be from Europe and argued that such a selection criteria undermines the legitimacy of the fund.

"The convention that the selection of the Managing Director is made, in practice, on the basis of nationality undermines the legitimacy of the fund," Executive Directors representing the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) grouping of countries in the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said in a joint statement.

The BRICS nations noted that the recent financial crisis which erupted in developed countries underscored the urgency of reforming international financial institutions so as to reflect the growing role of developing countries in the world economy.

In this regard, they said several international agreements have called for a truly transparent, merit-based and competitive process for the selection of the Managing Director of the IMF and other senior positions in the Bretton Woods institutions.

"This requires abandoning the obsolete unwritten convention that requires that the head of the IMF be necessarily from Europe. We are concerned with public statements made recently by high-level European officials to the effect that the position of Managing Director should continue to be occupied by a European," they said.

PTI