Statement from Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam, Singapore Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister; Chairman of the International Monetary and Financial Committee

I would like to congratulate Ms Christine Lagarde on her appointment as Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund.

I am confident that Ms Lagarde will lead the Fund with a clear sense of purpose, ensure that the Fund preserves the independence it needs to sustain its effectiveness, and promote a spirit of consensus that cuts across the Fund’s membership.

I have spoken with Ms Lagarde and we agreed on the importance of continued reforms to the governance of the Fund, so as to reflect the evolving balance in the global economy and financial system. This includes securing full implementation of the 2010 reforms and pressing ahead with the review of the quota formula that will commence before the Annual Meetings in September this year.

Ms Lagarde and I also discussed the need for the Fund to work with its partners to address immediate threats to financial stability and contain their potential repercussions to the global economy. Beyond these immediate challenges, we agreed that the Fund and the IMFC will work to strengthen the multilateral surveillance process and, over the longer term, reform the international monetary system.

The selection process for the Managing Director encouraged two highly credible individuals to step forward. Mr Agustín Carstens and Ms Lagarde were exceptionally strong candidates, and I would like to thank them both for reaching out to a broad range of our constituencies in the process, for displaying a spirit of mutual respect throughout, and for respectively highlighting the need to enhance the Fund’s ability to promote global stability.

Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam, Singapore Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister; Chairman of the International Monetary and Financial Committee (IMFC)

Please refer to the IMF Statement "IMF Executive Board Selects Christine Lagarde as Managing Director" here.