Montek among probables for next IMF chief

Deputy chairman of the Planning Commission,Montek Singh Ahluwalia,figures among the probables to succeed Dominique Strauss-Kahn as the next chief of International Monetary Fund (IMF),a New York Times report has said.

Deputy chairman of the Planning Commission,Montek Singh Ahluwalia,figures among the probables to succeed Dominique Strauss-Kahn as the next chief of International Monetary Fund (IMF),a New York Times report has said.

The daily said that the role of the international lender has increased manifold in the emerging markets,and someone from the developing world was likely to succeed IMF managing director Dominique Strauss-Kahn.

Even as the IMF expands its presence,the institution is being transformed in ways that reflect the emerging economic order,with Asia leading the recovery; Latin America,the Middle East and Africa growing steadily; and the richest economies of Western Europe,North America and Japan lagging behind, the newspaper said.

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Naming Ahluwalia among the probable successors to Kahn,the report said that IMFs incumbent chief,whose popularity at home has risen,might run for the French presidency

in 2012.

Whatever he (Kahn) decides,his successor is likely to be someone from the developing world. Frequently mentioned names include Mohamed A El-Erian,the American-born son of an Egyptian diplomat and an economist who leads the giant bond investor Pimco; Montek Singh Ahluwalia,a senior Indian planning official; and Arminio Fraga and Guillermo Ortiz,former heads of the central banks of Brazil and Mexico respectively, the daily said.

The report stated that Strauss-Kahn might be the last managing director chosen under the World War II-era custom of having a Western European lead the fund while an American heads its sister institution,the World Bank.