*EPF505 03/03/00
Clinton Wants European to Head International Monetary Fund
(President won't back U.S. candidate) (580)
By Warner Rose
Washington File Staff Writer

Washington -- President Clinton wants the new managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to be a European, even though the United States does not support the candidate the European Union (EU) member states nominated for the job, German deputy finance minister Caio Koch-Weser.

Speaking with journalists March 2, Clinton said he is "completely committed" to selecting a European to serve as IMF managing director, the Fund's top position. For this reason, Clinton said he would not support the candidacy of Stanley Fischer, a naturalized American citizen and currently the acting IMF managing director. Fischer, whom Clinton called "an enormously able man," was nominated for the managing director job by a group of African countries.

Clinton added that James Wolfensohn, an American, is currently president of the World Bank. "I think the Europeans should lead the IMF, and it would suit me if a German led the IMF," said Clinton. A tradition that goes back to the launching of the IMF and the World Bank in 1946 is for the IMF to always be headed by a European and the World Bank by an American.

As the IMF's 24-member policy-making Executive Board begins work on selecting a new managing director to succeed Michel Camdessus, who left last month, a major U.S.-EU dispute has arisen over U.S. opposition to Koch-Weser's nomination.

Clinton told German Chancellor Gerhard Schroader February 26 in a telephone conversation that the United States would not support Koch-Weser, said White House Press Spokesman Joe Lockhart.

"We don't believe that he meets the criteria for a strong candidate of maximum stature, who would be able to command broad support from around the world," Lockhart said February 28.

Nonetheless, the European Community went ahead and nominated Koch-Weser. The IMF executive board March 2 held its first "straw poll" on the three candidates so far nominated: Fischer, Koch-Weser and Eisuke Sakakibara, former Japanese vice-finance minister, nominated by Japan.

According to an IMF announcement issued late March 2, Koch-Weser received the largest number of votes, followed by Fischer, with Sakakibara in third place. Thirty-six percent of the voting power abstained, the IMF said. "On the basis of the this poll, the executive directors will continue their consultations with each other and their national authorities on the next steps. No decision has been made on a further poll," said the IMF statement.

"As the president made clear, it is hoped that a strong European candidate with the requisite stature, expertise and ability to command global consensus would emerge," said U.S. Secretary of Treasury Lawrence Summers, speaking to journalists March 2.

As the largest contributor to the IMF, the United States has the largest weighted vote, 17.35 percent of the total, in Executive Board proceedings and can block actions.

As of March 3, the EU members continued to back Koch-Weser for the position.

If a German were chosen as managing director, it would be a first. Of the seven previous managing directors, one was Belgian, one was Dutch, two were Swedes and three were Frenchmen. The managing director's term is for five years. Camdessus, who served from January 1987 to February 2000, held the post the longest. He left about midway through is third term.

(The Washington File is a product of the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Website: usinfo.state.gov)
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