French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde has announced she will seek the top job at the International Monetary Fund.

"If I was elected, I would bring to the fund all my experience as a lawyer, business manager, minister and woman," Lagarde, who has been minister since 2007, told reporters in Paris at a news conference where she made the announcement.

Many European countries, including Germany and Britain, have offered their backing of Lagarde's bid to run the IMF, which provides billions in loans to shore up the global economy.

European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said the EU "fully endorsed" Lagarde's candidacy.

"Mrs. Lagarde's [qualities], as well as her engagement on the strengthening of global economic governance, is indispensible to accomplish the mission of the IMF and its vital contribution to the stability of the international economy," Barroso said.

The 55-year-old center-right politician, a former corporate lawyer who speaks fluent English, has won praise for her skilled chairing of the G20 finance ministers and her communications skills.

However, unlike Strauss-Kahn - who resigned last week after being charged with the attempted rape of a hotel maid in New York - she is not an economist and may struggle to wield his powerful influence over the management of the global economy.

Merit-based selection?

The EU and the United States have enough joint voting power to decide who leads the IMF. Securing support from emerging economies, however, would defuse a potentially bitter row over the decision.

In the first joint statement issued by the directors at the fund, the BRIC countries - Brazil, Russia, India and China - said the choice of who heads the IMF should be based on competence, not nationality.

They called for "abandoning the obsolete unwritten convention that requires that the head of the IMF be necessarily from Europe."

In April 2009, the G20 leading nations endorsed "an open, transparent and merit-based selection process" for heads of the global institutions.

The IMF's board will draw up a shortlist of three candidates and has a June 30 deadline for picking a successor. Nominations can be made until June 10.

Author: Gabriel Borrud (AFP, dpa)
Editor: Martin Kuebler