Christine Lagarde's salary as IMF chief: $486k per year

Former French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde, who starts her job as the IMF chief today, will be paid a salary of $467,940 and an allowance of $83,760 a year, both net of income taxes, according to the terms of her appointment released today. Lagarde’s remuneration is higher than that of her predecessor, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, who started with a $421,000 salary and a $75,000 allowance. Lagarde , 55, will serve as the managing director of the International Monetary Fund for a five-year term after three previous directors who left the job early. Interestingly they were all European. Her terms of employment require her “to observe the highest standards of ethical conduct, consistent with the values of integrity, impartiality and discretion”. Under the terms of the IMF, she has also been debarred from attending any political party meetings. [caption id=“attachment_36937” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“Her terms of employment require her to  observe the highest standards of ethical conduct. AFP”] [/caption] “As I have had the opportunity to say to the IMF Board during the selection process, the IMF must be relevant, responsive, effective, and legitimate, to achieve stronger and sustainable growth, macroeconomic stability, and a better future for all,” she had said in a statement after she was elected late last month. Economists believe that the most urgent task for Lagarde, the first female chief of the IMF, is to tackle the ongoing European debt crisis. Pimco fund manager, Mohamed A El-Erian, said in the Financial Times that “Lagarde will need to hit the ground running if her tenure as IMF managing director is to be an inspiring story of institutional transformation.” Lagarde was selected at the Managing Director by the IMF Board on June 28. She replaces her countrymen, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, who resigned after he was arrested in New York last month on sexual assault charges. Agencies