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Support grows for Lagarde IMF bid

French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde, who has been on a whirlwind tour touting her credentials to head the International Monetary Fund, has won the backing of Egypt, Indonesia and the UAE.

Published: 13 June 2011 17:45 CEST
Support grows for Lagarde IMF bid

In Cairo, Foreign Minister Nabil al-Arabi announced Egypt’s support for Lagarde, who is running against Mexico’s central bank chief Agustin Carstens and dark horse candidate Stanley Fischer, governor of the Bank of Israel.

“The Egyptian government supports the candidacy of French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde for the post of managing director of the IMF,” the official MENA news agency quoted Arabi as saying, after he met Lagarde in Cairo.

The French minister said she was pleased with the “very affirmative” support she received in the Egyptian capital.

“In this region, I have the honour of being supported by Bahrain, and of having the support of other Arab countries that have expressed themselves,” she told reporters.

The United Arab Emirates also threw its weight behind Lagarde, with Finance Minister Obeid Humaid al-Tayer hailing the French minister’s central role at G20 meetings under the rotating presidency of France.

In Indonesia, Finance Minister Agus Martowardojo backed Lagarde, describing her as a “professional person, very skilful in interacting between organisations, has high integrity and expertise.”

In Cairo, Lagarde said that under her leadership, the IMF would be dedicated to economic development in north Africa and the Middle East, where pro-democracy protests have swept the region.  

She said earlier that she was “confident” of her chances of heading the IMF, while declining to comment on her Israeli rival for the post.

“I am very confident, particularly after several meetings here in Egypt,” Lagarde told reporters after talks with her Egyptian counterpart Samir Radwan. “We have had excellent meetings.”

Egypt is on the 24-member executive board which is due to reach a consensus on naming a new IMF chief at the end of this month.

On Saturday, Bank of Israel Governor Stanley Fischer – an American economist who took Israeli citizenship and previously held the number two post at the IMF – announced that he too was in the race.

Lagarde, who on Saturday was in Saudi Arabia where she also expressed confidence, declined to comment on Fischer’s candidacy, saying only: “He has past experience as the number two at the IMF… Everybody is free to file a candidacy.”

Israeli Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz told Israel army radio Fischer’s chances of being elected were “not great.”

“One problem is his age. Fischer is 67, which is two years older than the demands for the position,” Steinitz said.

“I hope they find a way around it, it’s not a suitable criteria in this day and age.”

The IMF’s top post opened unexpectedly after Frenchman Dominique Strauss-Kahn resigned on May 18 to fight sexual assault charges in New York.

Despite a whirlwind world tour that has taken her from Brasilia to Beijing via New Delhi, Lagarde has failed to lock official backing from emerging powers in the race to become managing director of the world’s crisis lender.

Emerging nations have baulked at Europe’s 65-year grip on the top job at the Washington-based institution, calling the arrangement outdated.

Europe has come out in force for Lagarde while the United States and Japan, the IMF’s other power brokers, remain publicly uncommitted.

POLITICS

8 things you never knew about Andorra

The tiny statelet nestled in the Pyrenees mountains that mark the border between France and Spain hit the headlines with its new language requirement for residency permits – but what else is there to know about Andorra?

Published: 26 April 2024 15:11 CEST
8 things you never knew about Andorra

This week, Andorra passed a law setting a minimum Catalan language requirement for foreign residents. 

It’s not often the tiny, independent principality in the mountains makes the news – other than, perhaps, when its national football team loses (again) to a rather larger rival in international qualifying competitions.

The national side are due to play Spain in early June, as part of the larger nation’s warm-up for the Euro 2024 tournament in Germany. Here, then, in case you’re watching that match, at Estadio Nuevo Vivero, are a few facts about Andorra that you can astound your fellow football fans with…

Size matters

Small though it is – it has an area of just 468 square kilometres, a little more than half the size of the greater Paris area – there are five smaller states in Europe, 15 smaller countries in the world by area, and 10 smaller by population.

People

Its population in 2023 was 81,588. That’s fewer people than the city of Pau, in southwest France (which is itself the 65th largest town in France, by population).

High-living

The principality’s capital, Andorra la Vella (population c20,000 – about the same population as Dax) is the highest capital city in Europe, at an elevation of 1,023 metres above sea level. 

Spoken words

The official language – and the one you’ll need for a residency permit – is Catalan. But visitors will find Spanish, Portuguese and French are also commonly spoken, and a fair few people will speak some English, too.

Sport

We’ve already mentioned the football. But Andorra’s main claim to sporting fame is as a renowned winter sports venue. With about 350km of ski runs, across 3,100 hectares of mountainous terrain, it boasts the largest ski area in the Pyrenees.

Economic model

Tourism, the mainstay of the economy, accounts for roughly 80 percent of Andorra’s GDP. More than 10 million tourists visit every year.

It also has no sales tax on most items – which is why you’ll often find a queue at the French border as locals pop into the principality to buy things like alcohol, cigarettes and (bizarrely) washing powder, which are significantly cheaper.

Head of state

Andorra has two heads of state, because history. It’s believed the principality was created by Charlemagne (c748 – 814CE), and was ruled by the count of Urgell up to 988CE, when it was handed over to the Roman Catholic Diocese of Urgell. The principality, as we know it today, was formed by a treaty between the bishop of Urgell and the count of Foix in 1278.

Today, the state is jointly ruled by two co-princes: the bishop of Urgell in Catalonia, Spain and … the president of France, who (despite the French aversion to monarchy and nobility) has the title Prince of Andorra, following the transfer of the count of Foix’s claims to the Crown of France and, subsequently, to the head of state of the French Republic. 

Military, of sorts

Andorra does have a small, mostly ceremonial army. But all able-bodied Andorran men aged between 21 and 60 are obliged to respond to emergency situations, including natural disasters.

Legally, a rifle should be kept and maintained in every Andorran household – though the same law also states that the police will supply a firearm if one is required.

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