Mexico's government has announced that it plans to nominate Mexican central bank chief Agustin Carstens to be the next head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
The step could set up a competition for the IMF's top post between the Mexican candidate and French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde, who has so far been backed by the British and French governments.
The IMF has pledged to hold a merit-based and transparent process to replace former Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the French economist and politician who is now under house arrest in New York City on charges that he attempted to rape a hotel housekeeper.
Since the IMF was established in 1945, its leader has always been a European.
compiled from agency reports