Lagarde set for second term as IMF chief

IMF chief Christine Lagarde became assured Thursday of a second five year term Fund after the global financial institution announced there were no other candidates for the position.

"One candidate, current Managing Director Christine Lagarde, has been nominated," the IMF executive board said in a statement. The new term begins in July.

Named to head the IMF in July 2011, Lagarde officially entered her nomination for a second term on January 22.

She has received numerous expressions of support from officials in Europe, the United States and Latin America.

The nominating process closed on Wednesday and no other candidates for the position had emerged by then.

The board, representing the IMF's 188 member nations, said it would hold meetings with Lagarde and wants to complete the selection process "as soon as possible."

The board is expected to formally name her the next managing director by early March.

In 2011, Lagarde, a former French finance minister, easily won a contest with several developing country candidates to take over the IMF as Europe was sinking deep into economic crisis.

But her victory came amid criticism that the IMF's top job should not be locked down by a European, as it has since the institution was created in 1944.