"We accept Ms Lagarde's decision to relinquish her IMF responsibilities temporarily during the nomination period," the board said.
"We have full confidence in First Deputy Managing Director David Lipton as Acting Managing Director of the IMF."
"It has been one of the great pleasures of my professional life to work with Christine Lagarde at the IMF. She is fantastic. The IMF’s loss would be the ECB’s gain!" Lipton tweeted.
Christine Lagarde, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), issued the following statement after she was nominated to head the European Central Bank.
“I am honored to have been nominated for the Presidency of the European Central Bank. In light of this, and in consultation with the Ethics Committee of the IMF Executive Board, I have decided to temporarily relinquish my responsibilities as Managing Director of the IMF during the nomination period.”
The IMF’s Managing Director is both Chairperson of the Executive Board and Head of IMF staff. He or she is appointed by the Executive Board for a renewable term of five years. The Executive Board may select a Managing Director by a majority of votes cast. In the past, the Board has made such appointments by consensus.