Oxford varsity chancellor for Montek as new IMF chief

The chancellor of the University of Oxford, Lord Chris Patten, wants India’s Planning Commission deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia to be the next managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

The chancellor of the University of Oxford, Lord Chris Patten, wants India’s Planning Commission deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia to be the next managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

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Speaking at an event of the Said Business School, Patten said he had “nothing against Christine Lagarde” — the French finance minister currently in the running for the job — but wished Ahluwalia to be the next IMF chief.

Recalling long-standing ties between the University of Oxford and India, Patten said the university was proud to have produced two leading economists who had steered India's economy in recent decades: Singh and Ahluwalia.