IMF Removes Age Limit for the Position of its Managing Director

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has announced that age limit will no longer matter for the position of its Managing Director.

Since 1951, the IMF’s by-laws had prohibited the appointment of a candidate aged 65 or over as managing director, and had also prohibited the managing director from serving past his/her 70th birthday. 

The approval by the Board of Governors is an endorsement of an earlier proposal by the Executive Board to remove the age limit for whoever heads the institution going forward.

“The amendment to the By-Laws adopted by the Board of Governors, which is effective immediately, brings the Managing Director’s terms of appointment into line with those of members of the IMF Executive Board, which the Managing Director chairs, and those of the President of the World Bank Group, who are not subject to an age limit,” the IMF noted in a mailed note.

The IMF Executive Board is currently engaged in the selection of a successor to outgoing Managing Director Christine Lagarde, who will step down on September 12. 

Nominations to the position close on September 6, 2019, and the selection process is intended to be completed by October 4.

The Approval of the proposal required a simple majority of the votes cast, with a minimum participation requirement of a majority of Governors holding two-thirds of the total voting power. Voting ran from August 21 to September 4.

The Board of Governors which represents the 189 member countries according to their voting shares , is the highest decision-making body of the IMF and consists of one governor and one alternate governor appointed by each member country. 

The governor is usually the minister of finance or the governor of the central bank. Most powers of the IMF are vested in the Board of Governors. The Board of Governors may delegate to the Executive Board all except certain reserved powers. The Board of Governors normally meets once a year.

The Executive Board functions in continuous session and is responsible for conducting the business of the IMF and  composed of 24 Directors, who are elected by member countries or by groups of countries. The Managing Director serves as its Chairman.