Kristalina Georgieva named as new head of IMF

Weeks after Christine Lagarde left the International Monetary Fund to become the new head of the European Central Bank (ECB), Kristalina Georgieva has been named as the new managing director.

WITHIN NIGERIA learnt that Georgieva who is a Bulgarian economist once served as executive of the World Bank is now the first person from an emerging market economy to lead the Bretton Wood institution since its inception in 1944 and expected to resume on October 1, 2019 to start her five-year tenure.

The statement reads thus;

The selection of Ms. Georgieva by the 24-member Executive Board representing the IMF’s 189 member countries brings to a conclusion the selection process initiated by the Executive Board on July 26, 2019 (see Press Release No. 19/302). Following interviews with Ms. Georgieva, Executive Directors selected her for the position, effective October 1.

The Managing Director is the chief of the IMF’s operating staff and Chair of the Executive Board. The Managing Director is assisted by four Deputy Managing Directors in the operation of the Fund, which serves its membership through about 2,700 staff.

Ms. Georgieva, a national of Bulgaria, has been the Chief Executive Officer 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. Starting in 2010, she was at the European Commission, serving as Commissioner for International Cooperation, Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Response, then as Vice President for Budget and Human Resources. Ms. Georgieva has a Ph.D. in Economic Science and a M.A. in Political Economy and Sociology from the University of National and World Economy in Bulgaria, where she also taught from 1977 to 1991.”

The newly appointed IMF MD joined the World Bank in 1993 and rose through the ranks to become the chief executive officer of World Bank in January 2017. She was also the interim President of the World Bank before David Malpass was announced as the replacement of Jim Yong Kim who stepped down on February 1, 2019.