Bulgaria's Georgieva approved as new IMF managing director

WASHINGTON, Sept. 25 (Xinhua) -- The executive board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Wednesday approved the nomination of Bulgaria's Kristalina Georgieva, chief executive officer of the World Bank, to be the IMF managing director for a five-year term starting on Oct. 1.

"It is a huge responsibility to be at the helm of the IMF at a time when global economic growth continues to disappoint, trade tensions persist, and debt is at historically high levels," Georgieva said in a statement released Wednesday afternoon, noting that she is "deeply honored" to have been selected as head of the global lender.

"Our immediate priority is to help countries minimize the risk of crises and be ready to cope with downturns," she said. "Yet, we should not lose sight of our long-term objective -- to support sound monetary, fiscal and structural policies to build stronger economies and improve people's lives."

Georgieva, selected by the European Union to lead the IMF, has been the only nominee for the position. She served on the European Commission starting in 2010, and has been CEO of the World Bank since January 2017. She was the interim president for the World Bank from February to April this year.

Georgieva, who succeeds Christine Lagarde, is the first person from an emerging market economy to lead the IMF since its inception in 1944, the executive board said in a statement.

In July, Lagarde announced her resignation as IMF chief from Sept. 12 shortly after she was nominated for the presidency of the European Central Bank (ECB), triggering a selection process for the global lender's next managing director.

In early August, Georgieva narrowly defeated former Dutch Finance Minister Jeroen Dijsselbloem and emerged as EU's choice to lead the IMF, after EU countries failed to reach a consensus on a single candidate.

Earlier this month, the IMF approved the removal of the age limit for the position of managing director, paving the way for 66-year-old Georgieva to head the multilateral lender. Previously, the IMF's bylaws had prohibited the appointment of a candidate aged 65 or over as managing director and had also prohibited the managing director from serving past his/her 70th birthday.