Mark Carney misses the cut for IMF top job shortlist
Bank of England governor Mark Carney has failed to make it on to the shortlist of candidates to lead the International Monetary Fund (IMF), according to reports.
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Negotiations to find a European Union candidate are being led by France, which has narrowed down the field to five candidates, Reuters said.
They are: Bulgarian World Bank chief executive Kristalina Georgieva; Dutch former head of Eurozone finance ministers Jeroen Dijsselbloem; Finnish central bank governor Olli Rehn; Portugeuse Eurozone finance ministers chairman Mario Centeno; and Spanish economy minister Nadia Calvino.
Carney, whose time at the BoE ends in January, has not made the cut to the EU’s list despite being widely touted, the Guardian said.
The top job at the Fund has become vacant after former French finance minister Christine Lagarde, who held the job from 2011, was chosen to be the next leader of the European Central Bank (ECB).
The IMF, a pillar of global finance and a lender of last resort to countries in trouble, has traditionally been led by a European. This is a norm EU leaders are keen to keep up.
Carney qualifies for the role as he has Irish and British passports, despite being the first Canadian to run Britain’s central bank. Britain’s exit from the EU weakened his candidacy, however.
Former UK chancellor and current editor of the Evening Standard George Osborne was at one point British bookies’ favourite to take the job after his friends briefed the Financial Times that he fancied the job.
Yet the Guardian reported that a European diplomat said Osborne had “never been a candidate”.
The IMF officially launched its selection process on Friday. The Fund said the next boss “will be a national of any of the Fund’s members”, leaving open the possibility that a non-European could take the job.
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It said the successful candidate will “have a proven understanding of the Fund and the policy challenges facing the Fund’s diverse global membership… a firm commitment to, and an appreciation of, multilateral cooperation [and] will also be an effective communicator”.