No hat in IMF leadership ring: S.Africa’s Manuel

Former South African finance minister Trevor Manuel said Friday that he is not vying to be the next head of the International Monetary Fund but wants to focus on driving his country forward.

“Today is the deadline. I haven’t put my hat into the ring as I speak to you,” Manuel told public radio station SAFM.

“My adrenaline is flowing about South Africa right now. It’s where my focus is.”

Manuel has been rumoured as a candidate for the IMF post with South Africa and other developing countries pushing for the institution’s next leader to be from an emerging economy but failing to agree on a nomination of their own.

“I’ve said before that it’s not a decision that’s a Trevor Manuel decision. Its a national decision, its a global decision,” said Manuel, saying the post also involved lobbying campaigns by would-be candidates.

A member of cabinet, Manuel now heads the government’s National Planning Commission (NPC) meant plot a 2030 vision for South Africa.

“I’ve just been part of this amazing process in the National Planning Commission. We’ve got to turn this country around,” he told the radio station, after releasing a snapshot of the country’s challenges on Thursday.

The vacancy at the helm of the IMF arose after Dominique Strauss-Kahn, seen as a French presidential contender, resigned from the post after being charged with sex offences in New York.

Strauss-Kahn has denied all seven charges against him.