The big IMF race: EMs on priority list? No, says Virmani

France's Finance Minister Christine Lagarde officially declared her candidacy to replace Dominique Strauss-Kahn as managing director of Lagarde, and has received the backing of France's President Nicolas Sarkozy. European nations had already coalesced around her.

Meanwhile, Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa have come out in the open to oppose the notion that the next managing director of the IMF should be from Europe. The BRICS nations argue that such a selection criteria undermines the legitimacy of the fund. And that it should be decided on merit and not geography. But India's IMF representative Arvind Virmani says he's not too certain the next IMF chief will be non-European, let alone from an emerging nation. "I'm not totally pessimistic but I'm not at all optimistic. There is no indication which suggests that the result will be any different this time," he said. Don't miss: India sees emerging markets' joint IMF candidate