The IMF executive board confirmed on Friday that Kristalina Georgieva has been reappointed to lead the international financial agency for a second five-year term.
It means Georgieva, the only candidate in the race to manage the International Monetary Fund, will remain in office until her current term ends on September 30, 2024.
The board’s decision was reached through consensus, according to an IMF statement.
“I am deeply grateful for the trust and support of the Fund’s Executive Board, representing our 190 members, and honored to continue to lead the IMF as Managing Director,” the statement read.
“I look forward to continue serving our membership, together with the highly professional and committed staff of the IMF,” she said in a statement.
Georgieva, a 70-year-old Bulgarian, has led the IMF since 2019. She told AFP last month that she was “available to serve, if people want me to serve.”
During her tenure, the IMF assisted countries facing financial difficulties during the coronavirus outbreak and the devastation caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, particularly in Europe.
According to a contentious, decades-old agreement between Europe and the United States, the International Monetary Fund has traditionally been led by a European, and the World Bank by a US citizen.
This arrangement was repeated last year when the Biden administration chose Ajay Banga, an Indian-born, naturalized US citizen, to lead the World Bank, which is located right across the street from the IMF in Washington.
Georgieva faced charges in 2021, which she firmly rejected, that she was involved in changing a prominent World Bank business report to benefit China while working for the development agency.
However, after studying the World Bank’s assessment on the incident, the IMF executive board dismissed the claims and reaffirmed its confidence in Georgieva, allowing her to remain in office.
The board’s announcement implies that next week’s IMF and World Bank-hosted meetings of the world’s financial leaders in Washington can take place without a distracting struggle over the Fund’s future looming in the background.