IMF Closer To Scrapping Leader Age Limit For Bulgaria's Georgieva

The International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) executive board on August 21 recommended that the age limit for the lender’s managing director position be removed, paving the way for Bulgaria’s Kristalina Georgieva to get approval for the job.

Georgieva’s appointment also requires approval from the IMF’s board of governors where all 189 member countries have a seat, and if no competitors appear before the September 6 IMF nomination deadline.

At age 66, Georgieva currently doesn’t qualify because the rules say managing directors must be under 65 when they assume office and cannot serve beyond their 70th birthdays.

The World Bank, where Georgieva has been the chief executive since January 2017, has no leadership age limits.

European Union governments chose her as their candidate to lead the IMF in early August.

Following the EU vote, she said that she had requested "administrative leave" from her World Bank post.

However, Britain abstained from the EU vote and some media have reported that Prime Minister Boris Johnson wants former British Finance Minister George Osborne in that role with U.S. backing.

A European has led the IMF since the Washington-based lender was founded at the end of World War II.

If approved, Georgieva would replace former French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde who is leaving the IMF to take over as European Central Bank governor in November.

Based on reporting by Reuters