WASHINGTON: The top American serving at the International Monetary Fund will leave his post at the end of the month amid a reshuffling of the top leadership, the fund said on Friday.

David Lipton, 66, who has been in the number two position at the Washington-based lender since September 2011, will be replaced by newly installed IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva “in the context of changes she will be making to the leadership team,” the IMF said in a statement.

Georgieva, who has been at the helm of the institution since September, is expected to adjust the division of labour among her deputies.

Lipton is the longest-serving first deputy managing director, and was just over three years into his second five-year term in the role traditionally filled by an American.

The IMF said the search for Lipton’s successor will start shortly — but that will depend on who the US Treasury will nominate to the post.

Published in Dawn, February 8th, 2020