The governor of the Bank of England, Mark Carney, is unlikely to succeed Christine Lagarde as the boss of the International Monetary Fund, European officials said on Friday, as the European Union was considering four other names for the job.
Lagarde resigned as IMF managing director this week after EU leaders picked her to become the new governor of the European Central Bank at the start of July.
The top IMF job historically has been filled by a European, and officials on the sidelines of a G7 finance ministers and central banker governors meeting said Carney, who holds Canadian, British and Irish passports, was not considered European enough.
“He has the wrong passport, though otherwise everyone would love him,” one official said, echoing the views of three others.
A senior French official said earlier this month that President Emmanuel Macron wanted a “continental European” for the job, effectively ruling out Carney.
Canadian Finance Minister Bill Morneau said he had no insight into which candidates European countries would choose, but noted Carney was an expert in international finance.
“They’ll be seeking someone who not only has a certain passport but also has the ability to deal with future challenges. We all want to be in a place where if there’s an economic challenge that we have people around the table who have the experience and expertise to help us to chart out a path,” Morneau said.
“From a Canadian standpoint, we want someone at the IMF who has a deep understanding of the international financial system, who has the personal attributes that would enable them to be effective in negotiating agreements with countries in challenging times,” he said.
European Union countries are discussing the candidacies of Jeroen Dijsselbloem, the Dutch former head of euro zone finance ministers; Nadia Calvino, the Spanish economy minister; Mario Centeno, the Portuguese chairman of euro zone finance ministers; and Olli Rehn, the Finnish central bank governor.
French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire, whose country currently holds the rotating presidency of the G7, is in charge of finding consensus around one of the names by the end of July, two G7 officials said.