Christine Lagarde resigns from IMF after nomination to become European Central Bank president

David Lipton named as acting managing director

Christine Lagarde's resignation will be effective on 12 September (AP)

Christine Lagarde has submitted her resignation from her role of managing director of the International Monetary Fund after she was nominated to be the next president of the European Central Bank.

Ms Lagarde has already given up her day-to-day duties as head of the global crisis lender, and the agency has named David Lipton, a senior deputy, as acting managing director.

“With greater clarity now on the process for my nomination as ECB president and the time it will take, I have made this decision in the best interest of the Fund,” Ms Lagarde said in a statement.

She said her resignation would expedite the selection of her successor for the next head of the IMF.

Her resignation will be effective on 12 September.

Ms Lagarde took over the IMF in 2011 after her predecessor, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, was ensnared in sexual assault allegations.

As managing director, she coordinated large bailout loans for Greece in concert with the ECB and European Union.

She was nominated to be the first woman president of the ECB on 2 July by the eurozone’s 19 member governments.

If her nomination is approved, Ms Lagarde will replace Mario Draghi, who has pushed the ECB’s benchmark interest rate to record lows near zero and has spent €2.6trn on European financial assets in an effort to boost growth and inflation.

Under Ms Lagarde’s leadership, the IMF has supported those efforts and warned against premature rate hikes.

Additional reporting by agencies