France backs Lagarde for new IMF term
French Prime Minister Manuel Valls on Thursday said France will back Christine Lagarde to head the International Monetary Fund for a second five-year term.
"What I can tell you today is that the French authorities support and have great trust in Christine Lagarde," Valls said on the sidelines of the World Economic forum in Davos, Switzerland.
Valls said France's official backing of Lagarde would come later from Finance Minister Michel Sapin.
The IMF on Thursday opened formal nominations for the managing director job, with incumbent Lagarde seen as the leading candidate despite facing a trial in France over her handling of a massive state payout to a French tycoon when she was finance minister.
Nominations for the five-year term to run the global crisis bank beginning in July will close on February 10 after a review of the candidates.
The IMF executive board aims to have decided by March 3.
Lagarde, the former French finance minister who has overseen the IMF through the challenging eurozone bailouts and is widely respected in the global financial community, has not said directly whether she wants to renew her position.
Earlier Thursday, she won the backing of Britain and Germany.