IMF gives Lagarde a second term as managing director

International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde has been nominated to second term as the agency's managing director, the IMF said in a statement on Thursday.

The fund's executive board, which represents the institution's 188 member nations, announced her nomination after the period for submitting nominations for the position of the next managing director closed on Wednesday.

''The period for submitting nominations for the position of the next Managing Director closed on Wednesday, February 10. One candidate, current Managing Director Christine Lagarde, has been nominated,'' the dean of the executive board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Aleksei Mozhin, made the statement today.

Mozhin opened the position to nominations on 20 January, saying the panel has adopted an open, merit-based and transparent process for the selection of managing director, similar to the one used in the previous round. At the fund's annual meeting in Lima in October,

Lagarde, 60, is still facing legal troubles in France, which could still complicate her future as managing director. A French court said in December she will stand trial for ''negligence'' in relation to a settlement the French government reached with businessman Bernard Tapie during her time as finance minister. Lagarde has repeatedly stated her innocence, and she promised to appeal the decision to try her.

She took over as head of the IMF in 2011 when Dominique Strauss-Kahn resigned after a hotel maid accused him of sexual assault. Prosecutors dropped a criminal case amid inconsistencies in her testimony; Strauss-Kahn reached an undisclosed civil settlement with the woman.

Largarde, the first woman to lead the IMF, took the helm as its 11th director in 2011, according to the agency, which said it aims to complete the process as soon as possible.