French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde has announced her candidacy as the new head of the International Monetary Fund.
Last week Dominique Strauss-Kahn resigned from the position after being accused of the sexual assault of a hotel maid in New York. The 62-year-old Frenchman maintains he is innocent.
Ms Lagarde, 55, says she has made the decision after reflection and consultation and agreement with President Nicolas Sarkozy and Prime Minister Francois Fillon, the BBC reports.
The IMF has traditionally been run by a European national, but on Tuesday representatives of major developing nations on its 24-strong executive board called for the practice to be abandoned.
Ms Lagarde says she has received a number of calls of support from different countries.
All 10 of the IMF's managing directors since 1944 have been European.
If elected, Ms Lagarde would be the first woman to head the agency in its 67-year history.
