IMF renews Kristalina Georgieva as managing director for a second term

There was no room for surprise. Kristalina Georgieva's candidacy was the only one that had been presented, so the decision was made by consensus. This Friday, the Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) elected the 70-year-old Bulgarian as managing director of the IMF for a second five-year term starting on October 1, 2024, as announced by the organization in a statement.

“I am deeply grateful for the trust and support of the Fund's Executive Board, which represents our 190 member countries, and I am honored to continue leading the IMF as Managing Director for a second five-year term,” Georgieva said in a statement released by the organization shortly after the announcement of his reelection, which occurs just before the Fund's spring meetings that will be held next week in Washington. The new term extends until Georgieva is 76 years old. Until her election in 2019, the age limit to hold office was 65 years.

“In recent years, the IMF has helped our member countries weather successive shocks, including the pandemic, war and conflict, and a cost-of-living crisis. We have also intensified our work on climate change, fragility and conflict, and the digital transition, in line with their increasing importance for macroeconomic and financial stability, growth and employment,” added Georgieva.

The coordinators of the Executive Committee, Afonso S. Bevilaqua and Abdullah F. BinZarah, have highlighted that in renewing Georgieva the Board praised her “firm and agile leadership” during her mandate, navigating a series of major global disruptions. Georgieva led the IMF's unprecedented response to these disruptions, including approving more than $360 billion in new financing since the start of the pandemic for 97 countries, debt service relief for the poorest members and vulnerable from the Fund and a historic allocation of Special Drawing Rights (SDR) equivalent to 650,000 million dollars," they said in a statement.

In the note, they have highlighted that in its first mandate, the Fund introduced innovative financing mechanisms, such as the Mechanism for Resilience and Sustainability and the Window for Food Shocks. He also replenished the Poverty Reduction and Growth Trust Fund, with the capacity to mobilize concessional loans for its poorest members, and co-created the Global Roundtable on Sovereign Debt. In addition, it achieved a 50% increase in the quota to reinforce the permanent resources of the Fund and agreed to add a third sub-Saharan president to the Board of Directors.

Bulgarian Georgieva has held the position of managing director since October 1, 2019. Traditionally, European countries nominate the Fund's chief executive, while the United States appoints the head of the World Bank. In 2019, after Christine Lagarde resigned from the IMF to become president of the European Central Bank (ECB), several candidates entered the race to succeed her. Among them was the then Spanish Minister of Economy, Nadia Calviño, who withdrew her candidacy due to the lack of sufficient support. The IMF modified the age requirement for the position to allow the election of Georgieva, who beat the Dutchman Jeroen Dijesselbloem in the final vote among European candidates.

This time, his path has been much clearer from the beginning. The Finance Ministers of Germany and France, Christina Lindner and Bruno Le Maire, had already shown their support. Also the Spanish Minister of Economy, Carlos Body, supported Georgieva when it became known that she had presented her candidacy. Through X, Corpus stated that the Bulgarian's intention to renew constituted “excellent news for the fund.” “She is the most suitable for the position,” said the head of Economy.

The Managing Director is the head of the IMF's operational staff and chairwoman of the Executive Board. She has four deputy managing directors who support her in managing the operation of the Fund, which has about 3,100 employees.

Before assuming her current role, Georgieva was CEO of the World Bank since January 2017. From February 1, 2019 to April 8, 2019, she was Acting President of the World Bank Group. Previously, she worked at the European Commission as Commissioner for International Cooperation, Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Response, and as Vice-President for Budget and Human Resources. Georgieva has a doctorate in Economic Sciences and a master's degree in Political Economy and Sociology from the Bulgarian University of National and World Economy, where she also taught from 1977 to 1991.