Merkel backs a European as IMF boss

Ms. Merkel said on Thursday that she wouldn’t comment on any possible candidates to head the International Monetary Fund but insisted anew that Europe should nominate a candidate.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel adresses the media during a news conference at the chancellery in Berlin, Germany, Wednesday, March 2, 2011. Merkel is moving her interior minister, Thomas de Maiziere, to the Defense Ministry — putting him in charge of a major military overhaul and a planned gradual pullback from Afghanistan. (AP Photo/Michael Sohn)

German Chancellor Angela Merkel is pushing for a quick decision on a successor to Dominique Strauss—Kahn as head of the IMF and underlining her hopes that a European will get the job.

Ms. Merkel said on Thursday that she wouldn’t comment on any possible candidates to head the International Monetary Fund but insisted anew that Europe should nominate a candidate.

She says- “It is of great significance, of course, that we find a quick solution.” But she didn’t name a specific time frame.

Ms. Merkel argues it makes sense for a European to lead the IMF in the midst of the eurozone debt crisis. She says the fact that Strauss—Kahn had not served a full term also should be taken into account.