IMF's Lagarde: 'I am not candidate' for European chief

IMF managing director Christine Lagarde said Friday she was “not a candidate” to become head of the European Commission.

“On this EU thing, I am not a candidate. I have a job, I happen to think it is a rather important job and I intend to complete my term,” Lagarde said at an International Monetary Fund event in London.

Lagarde, from France, has been mentioned as a possible alternative to Luxembourg’s Jean-Claude Juncker as president of the executive body of the European Union.

Juncker has been strongly opposed by British Prime Minister David Cameron, who fears he will lead the EU towards greater federalism.

Lagarde began her five-year mandate as IMF chief in 2011, succeeding the disgraced Dominique Strauss-Kahn.