Chief Executive Officer of the World Bank, Ms. Kristalina Georgieva, is set to step into Christine Lagarde’s shoes as Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Lagarde is quitting the IMF on September 12, having resigned in July following her nomination to become head of the European Central Bank (ECB).
The IMF announced in a press release yesterday that with the period for submitting nominations for the position of the next MD of the fund having closed on Friday, September 6, Georgieva, a Bulgarian national, was the only nominee that confirmed her willingness to be considered as a candidate.
According to the IMF release, “the period for submitting nominations for the position of the next managing director closed on Friday, September 6. One nominee, Ms. Kristalina Georgieva, currently Chief Executive Officer of the World Bank and a Bulgarian national, has confirmed willingness to be considered as a candidate.
“The board will now proceed in line with the process described in the decision of July 26, including holding meetings between the candidate and executive directors. The board’s goal is to complete the selection process as soon as possible, and at the latest by October 4, 2019.”
Georgieva has been CEO of the World Bank since January 2017. From February 1, 2019 to April 8, 2019, she was the Interim President for the World Bank Group and was responsible for the Group’s efforts to end extreme poverty by 2030 and to boost shared prosperity around the world.
Previously, she helped shape the agenda of the European Union starting in 2010, first as Commissioner for International Cooperation, Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Response, where she managed one of the world’s largest humanitarian aid budgets and established herself as a global champion for resilience. As the European Commission Vice President for Budget and Human Resources, Georgieva oversaw the European Union’s €161 billion (US $175bn) budget and 33,000 staff across its institutions around the world, and tripled funding available to the refugee crisis in Europe.
Before joining the European Commission, Georgieva had a successful tenure at the World Bank, starting in 1993 as an Environmental Economist, and eventually becoming Director for Environment and Social Development for the East Asia and Pacific Region and then Director in charge of environmental strategy, policies and lending.
She was born in Sofia, Bulgaria, in 1953 and holds a Ph.D in Economic Science and a M.A. in Political Economy and Sociology from the University of National and World Economy, Sofia, where she was an Associate Professor between 1977 and 1991.
With the World Bank having a United States citizen, David Malpass as its President, analysts predict that Georgieva will emerge IMF MD, given that she has Europe’s backing.
