EU govts pick Bulgaria's Georgieva as candidate to replace Lagarde as IMF head

Yasuyoshi Chiba, AFP | World bank Interim President and CEO Kristalina Georgieva speaks during the One Planet Summit at the UN headquaters in Nairobi, Kenya, on March 14, 2019.

The Bulgarian number two of the World Bank Kristalina Georgieva Friday emerged on top in a fractious vote to be the EU's candidate to head the IMF.

Under the qualified majority system used in the vote of EU ministers, Georgieva won the support of 56 percent of EU countries representing 57 percent of the EU's population, added the source, who asked not to be named.

However the qualified majority voting rules mean an outright winner should have the support of at least 55 percent of the member states representing between them 65 percent of the EU's 500 million people. EU finance ministers were to hold a telephone conference later Friday to discuss the outcome.

The managing director of the IMF goes to a European by convention but not rule. The EU fears too much division or hesitation may encourage support for candidates outside Europe.

"I congratulate Kristalina Georgieva with the outcome of todays European votes. I wish her the utmost success," Dijsselbloem wrote in a message on Twitter without saying more.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP)