20110611
Xinhua
JOHANNESBURG, June 10 (Xinhua) -- Minister in the South African presidency Trevor Manuel on Friday denied he is in the running for the post of International Monetary Fund managing director.

With the deadline for nominations closing on Friday, Manuel told the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC), "I haven't put my hat into the ring as I speak to you."

The IMF vacancy occurred in May when France's Dominique Strauss-Kahn resigned after being arrested on sex charges in New York.

Manuel, who earned international respect during his decade-long tenure as South Africa's finance minister, had been tipped by media in South Africa and other developing countries as a candidate for the IMF post.

However, on Friday he said any decision on his candidacy would not be his to make. "It's a national decision, it's a global decision," he said.

French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde has the support of most European governments to take over the IMF post.

The Business Day newspaper in Johannesburg reported that she has encountered some resistance from some emerging economy countries which feel the time has come for Europe to lose its long- standing monopoly on the position.