PARIS (MNI) – The French government expects Finance Minister
Christine Lagarde to be named managing director of the International
Monetary Fund as early as Tuesday and already has a plan in place to
replace her, which could be announced as early as Wednesday, France’s
daily Le Figaro reported.

According to the newspaper, recent comments by President Nicolas
Sarkozy, who said he would wait for the IMF to make its decision, were a
matter of courtesy.

The government’s working scenario is that Lagarde will get the IMF
post and will quickly tender her resignation as finance minister to take
up her new duties.

The leading candidate to replace Lagarde is current Budget Minister
Francois Baroin, Le Figaro reported. But Agriculture Minister Bruno Le
Maire is also in the running, it said.

–Paris newsroom, +331-42-71-55-40; paris@marketnews.com

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