Ireland’s Paschal Donohoe, whose leadership of euro-area finance ministers has elevated his global profile, is considering a bid to lead the International Monetary Fund, according to people familiar with the matter.
Donohoe, 49, is currently Ireland’s minister for public expenditure and served as finance minister from 2017 to 2022. He has led the Eurogroup — the body of finance chiefs that steered the bloc through its sovereign debt crisis and the pandemic — since mid-2020, having been elected late last year for a second 2 ½-year term.
The current term of IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva ends in September 2024, but the selection can take shape months in advance. Her support from the US, the fund’s biggest voting member, wavered following accusations in 2021 that she improperly influenced a World Bank ranking of China’s business climate.
While no candidate has put forward their name yet for the IMF role, the people said Donohoe is holding preliminary conversations over the matter. They requested anonymity to discuss the private talks.
A spokeswoman for Donohoe said he is “fully focused on his current work and responsibilities in Ireland and in the Eurogroup and committed to serving his full mandate. He will also be a candidate in the next election in Ireland.”
Georgieva has not yet publicly stated whether she intends to seek a second term. An IMF spokesperson said Georgieva’s attention “is on helping the membership of the IMF face the pressing economic challenges that the world is grappling with.”
Donohoe has forged a reputation as a consensus builder, well-liked and respected by all sides — both in his home country and in Brussels. These traits helped him stay head of the Eurogroup even when his job change to budget minister would have given his EU counterparts the opportunity to find a new leader.
