IMF faith in Lagarde remains unshaken

She is accused of ministerial misconduct over 400 mn euro paid to controversial businessman Bernard Tapie when she was French Finance Minister

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has reposed faith in Christine Lagarde as the head of the multi-lateral agency amid accusations of abuse of authority against her when she was the finance minister of France in 2007. However, the fund evaded a direct reply to a query whether the ongoing case against her tarnishes the image of IMF.

“...the executive board has been briefed on this matter, including recently, and continues to express its confidence in the managing director’s ability to effectively carry out her duties,” IMF spokesman Gerry Rice told reporters in Washington DC last night. The board will be briefed again in the coming days, he said. The transcript of the press conference was posted on the IMF site.

When asked whether the case against Lagarde could harm IMF’s reputation, Rice said, “There’s a process underway in France, so let's wait for that.”

Lagarde is accused of ministerial misconduct over euro 285 million paid to controversial business figure Bernard Tapie when she was the finance minister of France in 2007. Investigation into the matter is going on in France.

When Rice was asked how recently was the IMF board briefed, he again evaded a direct reply. “The IMF’s Executive Board has been briefed a few times, and I can refer you to the most recent statement, which I just mentioned,” he said. Rice said the fund’s General Counsel briefed the board on the matter. When asked what did he tell the board, Rice said,”I’m not going to go into the details.”

To a query whether Lagarde is in any position of invoking any kind of diplomatic immunity in the case, Rice said, “The IMF’s Executive Board some time ago waived the managing director’s immunities to the extent necessary to enable her to appear before the French judicial authorities in this matter. The managing director herself had requested such a waiver.”