Kristalina Georgieva is poised to succeed Christine Lagarde as Managing Director of the IMF. She is from Bulgaria.
As a champion of multilateralism, Ms Georgieva is expected to maintain IMF’s recent focus on tackling climate change, boosting female labour participation and reducing inequality.
What challenges does she face?
1. The global economy is slowing, which puts more pressure on the IMF as the world’s lender of last resort.
2. The trade war between Washington and Beijing has cast a cloud over the world economy and it should not spill into the IMF where US-China choose to battle in out.
3. To renew the Fund’s borrowing arrangement to enhance it to about a $trillion given the demand it might face in the event of a new recession or financial crisis
4. governance reforms- voice reforms- that would give more power to large emerging market economies
5. In addition to Argentina, IMF focus will be on Ukraine and Pakistan, two other countries that have frequently borrowed from the Fund but never been able to fully stabilise their economies and financial systems. After months of negotiations, Pakistan in July secured new loans — despite US concerns that the money might be used to repay Chinese debt — but there are doubts about whether the programme will succeed.
6. A very important reform that many across the world are demanding is: The current process, by ruling out non-Europeans for the post of the MD, deprives the institution of talent and independence for this globally critical role and compromises legitimacy. It needs change so that wider base for merit is available.