IMF picks Egyptian finance minister as leader

The policy-steering committee of the International Monetary Fund has elected Egyptian Finance Minister Youssef Boutros Ghali as its chairman, the first to come from the emerging market or developing countries who have been pushing for more influence in the 185-nation organization. He won in a consensus vote Friday after Indian Finance Minister Palaniappan Chadambaram dropped out. Normally the post has been held by a European although one chairman in the 1980s was a Canadian. Boutros Ghali succeeds Tommaso Padoa-Schioppa, Italy's former minister of economy and finance, who resigned in May 2008 after his party lost an election.... [read full story]