IMF's Lagarde seeks second term in shadow of court case

Paris

INTERNATIONAL Monetary Fund (IMF) managing director Christine Lagarde launched her campaign for a second term on Friday with ringing endorsements from a host of major economies - and a court case against her looming in her native France.

The former French finance minister who trained as a lawyer has no obvious challengers and has long been open to serving another five-year term. The prime ministers of Britain and France backed her publicly on Thursday. "I am candidate to a new mandate. I was honoured to receive from the start of the process the backing of France, Britain, Germany, China, Korea," the 60-year-old told France 2 television in an interview from Davos.