26 May 2011
Business Unity SA (Busa) will support Planning Minister Trevor Manuel if he decides to stand for the position of International Monetary Fund (IMF) head, it said on Wednesday.
“He has established excellent credentials as a former South African minister of finance, as well as enjoying a high reputation in global financial circles,” Busa spokesperson Masego Lehihi said in a statement.
“He is also known as a strong advocate of reform in the global financial architecture.”
BRICS should ‘influence’ decision
Lehihi said Busa also endorsed the view expressed by the Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS) group that the next managing director of the IMF should come from an emerging economy.
The increasing role of the developing countries in the world economy had to be acknowledged.
“BUSA believes that, collectively, BRICS should enlarge its sphere of influence over the final decision,” he said.
Manuel’s name has come up a number of times as a possible successor to France’s Dominique Strauss-Kahn, who stepped down as IMF head after he was charged with the attempted rape of a hotel maid in New York.
Strauss-Kahn has denied the charges.
Sapa
