July 24, 2007	Tuesday	Rajab 08, 1428

WASHINGTON, July 23: The Group of 24 developing countries called on Monday for advanced nations to respect the International Monetary Fund’s decision to seek its next managing director without bias in favour of a European candidate.

“As ministers representing developing countries, the G24 has consistently called for a change of past practice whereby Europe has been allowed to nominate the Head of the IMF and the United States the head of the World Bank,” the G24 said in a statement.

The IMF executive board launched on July 12 its search for a successor to managing director Rodrigo Rato, a Spaniard, who announced in late June he was resigning in late October, nearly two years before the end of his term.

The only candidate at this point is Dominique Strauss-Kahn, a former French finance minister and Socialist leader who has the backing of the European Union finance ministers.

The G24, which includes the powerhouse economies of China, India and Brazil, applauded the IMF’s proposed approach for selecting the next managing director: nominations will be accepted from any of the Fund’s 185 members and the successful candidate will be chosen according to merit, without regard to nationality.—AFP