Lagarde Strengthens Lead for IMF Job in Duel With Carstens

Christine Lagarde strengthened her lead in the race for the International Monetary Fund’s top job after the institution discarded the candidacy of Bank of Israel Governor Stanley Fischer and rival Agustin Carstens described his chance of winning as “slim.”

The IMF executive board said in a statement late yesterday in Washington that it retained Lagarde and Carstens as the candidates for the post of managing director, excluding Fischer, who exceeds the age limit for the job. Earlier, Carstens had described Lagarde’s chances of being chosen as “quite high.”