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Thailand backs ASEAN citizens to take IMF head

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2011-05-22 16:26

BANGKOK - Thai Finance Minister Korn Chatikavanij said on Saturday he supported ASEAN economists to be the next managing director of International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Korn referred to the selection of a new IMF managing director to replace Dominique Strauss-Kahn, a French citizen, who is struggling with sex scandal in the United States and recently resigned from his post.

Korn said that the board executives of both IMF and World Bank usually are dominating Europeans and Americans.

However, economies of many developing countries, especially in ASEAN or the Association of Southeast Asian Nations region are currently expanding significantly, so he believes qualified candidates with adequate potentials can be found in the region to take the helm of the IMF.

Korn also pointed out some competent economists, such as current World Bank Managing Director Sri Mulyani Indrawati.

Therefore, Thai finance minister said the old tradition to focus only on European and American candidates should be forgotten in order to give economists from other regions a chance to sit in the high positions of the global organizations.