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Sarkozy outflanks Britain over IMF chief appointment
The British Government was comprehensively outmanoeuvred today when President Nicolas Sarkozy succeeded in placing Dominique Strauss-Kahn, a former French Socialist Finance Minister, in pole position to become the next head of the International Monetary Fund. The decision, taken during a lengthy informal and frugal breakfast in Brussels, was an early setback to Alistair Darling, the new Chancellor of the Exchequer, attending his first EU finance ministers’ meeting. He had argued in vain against a snap selection process, insisting that the time had come for a radical reform of the lengthy tradition whereby Europe is guaranteed the top job at the IMF, and America at the World Bank.
President Nicolas Sarkozy won guarded backing from European finance ministers for his plans to reform the French economy but concerns remain about the pace of budget deficit reductions, participants said on Tuesday. Sarkozy tried to reassure critics on Monday that he would stick to fiscal discipline but said he could meet a timetable for balancing the budget only if growth beat expectations, pleading for EU rules to be applied "intelligently".Eurogroup Chairman Jean-Claude Juncker, who presides over the monthly meetings of euro zone finance ministers in Bruxelles, voiced delight at the French leader's commitment to structural economic reform after his unprecedented presentation to the Eurogroup.
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