PARIS—France is set to name a new finance minister Wednesday to replace Christine Lagarde after she was named to the top post at the International Monetary Fund.
French government spokesman and budget minister François Baroin has been widely cited in news reports as a likely successor, but other names have also circulated in recent weeks, including Agriculture Minister Bruno Le Maire and Higher Education Minister Valérie Pécresse.
During the press briefing following the weekly cabinet meeting, Mr. Baroin declined to comment on reports that he had threatened to resign if he didn't get the post. The decision belongs to the prime minister and the president, he said.
A decision on a successor for Ms. Lagarde is expected Wednesday, before Prime Minister François Fillon leaves for Indonesia and Cambodia later in the day.
If appointed, Mr. Baroin would be well placed to tackle the domestic political and economic challenges, having worked closely with Ms. Lagarde over the last year at the finance ministry in his capacity as budget minister. He has limited international experience however, compared to his predecessor, who has played a key role in managing the euro zone's debt crisis.
Another drawback compared to Ms. Lagarde is Mr. Baroin's language skills. While Ms. Lagarde's eloquence in English helped propel her to international renown, Mr. Baroin claims only to have "university level" English.
Observers say one of Lagarde's biggest strengths is that she is a woman in a male-dominated institution. More than that - she is the IMF's first female managing director. Her predecessor, fellow Frenchman Dominique Strauss-Kahn, resigned last month after being charged with sexually assaulting a hotel employee.
Unlike Strauss-Kahn, Lagarde is not a trained economist. But another French Institute analyst, Philippe Moreau Defarges, says she'll be able to handle one of the IMF's biggest headaches - the financial meltdown in Greece, which threatens to spread to other eurozone countries.
"She's up to the task for one reason; around her are many people who are up to the task and there are many people who are ready and able to help her," he said.
The top IMF job has traditionally gone to a European. Emerging economies now want one of their own to take the helm. But they failed to unite behind Lagarde's only challenger - Mexican central banker Agustin Carstens.
Nongovernmental groups like Oxfam International have also criticized what they consider an opaque and undemocratic IMF election process. Now, says Oxfam France's general director Luc Lampriere, Lagarde must be willing to give emerging economies a major say.
"It puts a very big pressure on Christine Lagarde as director now to really decide and play a key role in changing this forever," he said.
Analyst Moreau Defarges, for one, believes Lagarde will listen to developing countries. But he has not doubt she has a tough job ahead of her.
