Israeli In Bid To Lead IMF

The New York Times reports:

JERUSALEM — Stanley Fischer, the governor of the Bank of Israel, said Saturday that he would run for the top job at the International Monetary Fund, presenting a potentially serious challenge to Christine Lagarde of France, the presumed front-runner.

Ms. Lagarde, the French finance minister, told her Saudi Arabian counterpart earlier in the day that tackling sovereign debt troubles would be a priority of the I.M.F. if she led the organization.

Mr. Fischer, also competing with Agustin Carstens, the chief of Mexico’s central bank, had said the I.M.F. post was one of the best jobs in the international financial system but was noncommittal on a bid until Saturday.

“There arose an extraordinary and unplanned opportunity — perhaps one that will never happen again — to compete for the head of the I.M.F., which after much deliberation I decided I wish to follow through on,” Mr. Fischer said in a statement.

Yuval Steinitz, Israel’s finance minister and representative at the I.M.F., said he would support and aid Mr. Fischer’s candidacy.

The job has been vacated by Dominique Strauss-Kahn of France, who resigned after his arrest on May 14 on charges of attempted rape.

Mr. Fischer, 67, would be a significant contender to Ms. Lagarde. But the I.M.F. would have to change its rules that no one should be appointed to the post over the age of 65 and that no one should hold the post beyond the age of 70.