Cameron doesn't want Brown to be next IMF chief
Wednesday, 20 April 2011, 06:28 IST
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London: British Prime Minister David Cameron believes the next International Monetary Fund (IMF) chief should be anybody from "China, India or south east Asia", not his predecessor Gordon Brown. Cameron has indicated that his government may not support the former British prime minister as the next IMF head, as it doesn't find him being "most appropriate" for the job. In a direct attack on the former premier, Cameron said Brown was not the "most appropriate person" to lead the IMF because he would not admit Britain had a "debt problem", the Daily Telegraph reports. "If you have someone who didn't think we had a debt problem (running the IMF), they may not be the best person to decide whether other countries have that problem," he said on BBC Radio 4's Today programme. Cameron added that the role needed to be filled by "someone who understands the dangers of excessive spending". Brown is reportedly hoping to take on the 270,000 pounds-a-year role but he must first be nominated by the British government. Cameron said it was important that the IMF was headed by "someone extraordinarily competent and capable" and praised current chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn for doing an "excellent job". Kahn is set to step down soon as managing director amid much media speculation that Brown, who resigned as British prime minister last year, could replace him. Earlier this month, Brown admitted he was wrong to leave banking regulation in the hands of the Financial Services Authority. Cameron admitted he had not understood how "entangled" the world's financial institutions had become. He suggested that the IMF should look to "another part of the world" for its next leader to increase its global standing. "If you think about the general principle, you've got the rise of India and China and South Asia, a shift in the world's focus, and it may well be the time for the IMF to start thinking about that shift in focus," he said. "Above all what matters is: is the person running the IMF someone who understands the dangers of excessive debt, excessive deficit?" Cameron said. "And it really must be someone who gets that rather than someone who says that they don't see a problem."
Source: IANS
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