Key emerging economies say IMF chief selection should reflect new realities of world economy

The selection of the next head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) should reflect the changing realities of the global economy, and should not be made on the basis of the tradition that requires a European chief, the fund's executive directors for five key emerging market economies said on Tuesday.

"The convention that the selection of the managing director is made, in practice, on the basis of nationality undermines the legitimacy of the fund," said IMF directors for China, Brazil, India, South Africa and Russia, or BRICS countries, in a joint statement, rejecting that the successor to former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn should continue to be a European.

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, noted the statement.

The new global economy requires "abandoning the obsolete unwritten convention that requires that the head of the IMF be necessarily from Europe," it said.

"We believe that, if the fund is to have credibility and legitimacy, its managing director should be selected after broad consultation with the membership," the IMF directors said, adding that the new IMF boss should be chosen on the basis of competence, not nationality.

The directors said that they 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.

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