SA Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan backs Trevor Manuel for IMF post

The International Monetary Fund's new managing director should come from a developing country, Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan said this week, backing his predecessor, Trevor Manuel for the role.

"Institutions such as the IMF must reform so that they can become credible," Gordhan said in a statement.

The only way that could happen, was if it reflected the interests of "all countries".

"South Africa calls for a candidate from a developing country to be given the opportunity to be the managing director of the IMF. Such a candidate will bring a new perspective that will ensure that the interests of all countries, both developed and developing, are fully reflected in the operations and policies of the IMF."

He said there were candidates from several developing countries who were "credible" and "eminently suitable" to run the organisation.

On Tuesday, Fin24 reported that National Planning Commission head Trevor Manuel could emerge as a candidate to replace International Monetary Fund (IMF) chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn. Although Strauss-Kahn had not formally stepped down, he was arrested for allegedly sexually assaulting a hotel cleaner in New York.

Professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Sloan School of Management and former IMF chief economist, Simon Johnson, told Fin24 Manuel was hotly-tipped as a possible successor.

He said if the Brics group of emerging countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China and SA) agreed on a candidate, that person could become a front-runner to head the IMF.

Business Day  reports that Manuel has been touted by several academics and economists in SA and abroad as a suitable candidate to head the IMF.

Voting at the IMF is skewed in favour of developed markets, with the US holding 16,8% and Germany, France and the UK holding 14,4% of the votes.

Of the 11 MDs who have led the IMF, a Frenchman has been at the helm four times. Germany, Europe’s largest economy, has led the IMF once. The organisation has 187 member countries.

Mr Manuel’s name has been touted along with those of former Turkish economic affairs minister Kemal Dervis, French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde and Duvvuri Subbarao, governor of India’s central bank.

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