French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde said she was "deeply honored" to have been picked as the new IMF chief, and President Nicolas Sarkozy called the news "a victory for France." Lagarde said in a statement she would make it her goal that the international lender continue in the same focus and spirit as in the past, looking to achieve "stronger and sustainable growth" and "macroeconomic stability.RELATED:You have our blessing to seek top IMF job, PM tells Fischer Strauss-Kahn resigns as IMF chief to prove innocence Lagarde was elected Tuesday as the managing director of the International Monetary Fund, maintaining Europe's grasp on the top job at the global lender.She begins her five-year term July 5 amid an escalating debt crisis in Europe and growing fears that Greece will default. "The executive board, after considering all relevant information on the candidacies, proceeded to select Ms. Lagarde by consensus," the IMF said in a statement.var zflag_nid='794'; var zflag_cid='1091/988'; var zflag_sid='122'; var zflag_width='300'; var zflag_height='250'; var zflag_sz='9'; Lagarde, 55, is the first woman to lead the IMF, succeeding Dominique Strauss-Kahn, who resigned in May to defend himself against charges of sexual assault against a hotel maid in New York. Lagarde's victory over Mexico's Central Bank Governor Agustin Carstens was assured after the United States made its support clear and emerging market economies China, Brazil and Russia did the same. She will have to immediately deal with an IMF-European Union effort to keep debt-stricken Greece afloat and focus on potentially thorny IMF "spillover reports" that analyze the economic and policy actions of the world's major economies. "Minister Lagarde's exceptional talent and broad experience will provide invaluable leadership for this indispensable institution at a critical time for the global economy," US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said in a statement.
