Kristalina Georgieva – first Eastern-European nominated as candidate for IMF manager

Kristalina Georgieva, the president of the World Bank, is the nomination of the European Union countries for the IMF manager position. Kristalina, 65, Bulgarian, is to replace the French former IMF manager, Christine Lagarde, who was appointed the president of the European Central Bank.

It is the first time in the history when the managing of the IMF is the responsibility of an Eastern-European, so far only managers from Belgium, Sweden, Germany, France, Netherlands and Spain have occupied this position. It is a success for Bulgaria and, we might add, for all the Eastern-European countries.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is an organization of 189 countries, working to foster global monetary cooperation, secure financial stability, facilitate international trade, promote high employment and sustainable economic growth, and reduce poverty around the world.

Created in 1945, the IMF is governed by and accountable to the 189 countries that make up its near-global membership.

The IMF’s primary purpose is to ensure the stability of the international monetary system—the system of exchange rates and international payments that enables countries (and their citizens) to transact with each other. The Fund’s mandate was updated in 2012 to include all macroeconomic and financial sector issues that bear on global stability.