Lagarde, Carstens Shortlisted For Top IMF Post

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><root available-locales="en_US," default-locale="en_US"><static-content language-id="en_US"><![CDATA[<p>France's Christine Lagarde and Mexico's Agustin Carstens were today shortlisted to lead the International Monetary Fund.<br><br>The new managing director would be announced by June 30, the IMF said in a statement.<br><br>"The Executive Board will meet with the candidates in Washington and, thereafter, meet to discuss the strengths of the candidates and make a selection," the official IMF statement said.<br><br>The two were the only ones named when the IMF released the list after nominations closed on Friday. The IMF did not explain why Israel's Stanley Fischer, who only declared himself at the last minute, was not on the list.<br><br>Two other possibles, a South African minister and Kazakhstan's central bank head, dropped out Friday.<br><br>While Lagarde, a French national, is Minister of Economy, Industry and Employment of France; Carstens is Governor of the Bank of Mexico.<br><br>(PTI)</p>