Rarely has the need to select a new head of the International Monetary Fund on merit been greater than now, and yet the usual manoeuvring to ensure that the job goes to someone of European nationality continues. As a result, potentially strong candidates from, say, China or Japan and elsewhere in and beyond Asia are sidelined. Christine Lagarde is stepping down after eight years at the helm of the IMF to head the European Central Bank, which will benefit from her presence – as will Europe as a continent. She has brought gravitas, statesmanship (or stateswomanship) and administrative skills to the task of IMF managing director. Her successor will need these skills and more as the global economy enters a very tricky phase where it could become stranded in the shoals of recession or even founder on the rocks of trade protectionism , slumping production and investment, and even an international financial crisis. The challenges are in fact awesome. The multilateral consensus which birthed the IMF and its “Bretton Woods sister” the World Bank 75 years ago is unravelling. Securing an international policy consensus in times of trade and economic war (let alone peace) is becoming that much more difficult. Ad hoc arrangements such as the Group of Twenty advanced and emerging economies, the Group of Seven and various other “G” combinations are also being undermined by the fracturing of political consensus. That is one reason why the world is drifting rudderless towards economic crisis. To make his or her voice heard above the din of political populism, the new head of the IMF must have the authority that comes from a sound working knowledge of economics, finance and governance – with a liberal dash of gravitas and diplomacy added to the mix. The world possesses such paragons but they are not all born in Europe (or America, in the case of the World Bank head). Such beliefs should really be antique by now and yet they still dominate the selection process for IMF and World Bank leaders. Why the World Bank and its next chief still matter Hence the situation we have now, where the European governments who continue to dominate the IMF have been casting around furiously to find someone with the right (European) credentials to head the Washington-based institution. According to the Financial Times , France (which is coordinating the discussion) has been exploring ways to scrap the age limit which says that IMF managing directors must be under 65 when appointed and cannot serve beyond 70. But since this is enshrined in an IMF by-law, the rule change will presumably need approval beyond Europe. It would allow 65-year-old Bulgarian-born Kristalina Georgieva (currently deputy head of the World Bank) to throw her hat into the ring. But a rule change on qualifying age at this point in time would look like what it is – a transparent device to preserve Europe’s hold on the top job. There is a case for raising the age limit. People are living and functioning effectively longer now, as Malaysia’s Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad has shown at the age of 93. But such a change should be for the benefit of all IMF candidates and not for the expediency of France. The age limit appears to rule out Mario Draghi (71), an otherwise highly qualified continental European candidate given his experience of heading the European Central Bank (although a straight job swap between him and Lagarde might have been too blatant an illustration of European domination). If being a central banker is good training for running the IMF, what about Mark Carney at the Bank of England? “He’s Canadian,” say the Europeans (although he does have Irish and British passports). Or Haruhiko Kuroda at the Bank of Japan, or Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank president Jin Liqun. Both are highly qualified for the job. For that matter, there’s former Reserve Bank of India governor Raghuram Rajan, not to mention Mexico’s Agustín Carstens – a former deputy managing director of the IMF, now heading the Bank for International Settlements. Both again are highly qualified. And there are no doubt many more. The strongest argument for having another European now is that it would help to counter US President Donald Trump’s economic nihilism – former French IMF head Dominique Strauss-Kahn sought to challenge the US hold on global monetary affairs, only to be toppled for alleged sexual misdeeds. It needs to be a brave man or woman who picks up the reins this time. Anthony Rowley is a veteran journalist specialising in Asian economic and financial affairs