Support and suggestions for lagarde

NEW YORK - The United States expressed its support of Christine Lagarde early Tuesday in a written statement by Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner.

The US holds about 17 percent of the voting rights in the International Monetary Fund, by far the largest for one country. Japan ranks second, China third. Europe, as a whole, has 32 percent of the voting block

Lagarde's only contender for the post of managing director, Mexico's Agustin Carstens, had secured endorsements only from Canada, Australia and most Latin American countries except for Brazil and Argentina. Carstens is governor of Mexico's central bank and is a former deputy managing director of IMF.