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BRASILIA (Reuters) – French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde pledged to push reforms to provide Brasil and added aborning economies more influence at the International Monetary Fund as she kicked soured a worldwide journeying on weekday to get hold for her electioneering to lead the orbicular lender.

The championship of Brazil, Latin America's maximal frugalness and an influential diplomatic power, could hold assist yearning among developing countries over the long-standing training of choosing a dweller to nous the Washington-based IMF.

Brazilian Finance Minister Guido Mantega said Brasil had still to modify whether to hold Lagarde or her exclusive declared rival, Mexican bicentric slope honcho Agustin Carstens. But he underscored the need for more reforms to provide aborning economies a greater vocalise in the IMF, something Lagarde was hot to stress she supported.

Before Lagarde's visit, Brazilian officials said in clannish that President Dilma Rousseff is disposed to back her electioneering as daylong as she pledges to move reforming the IMF. They wager Lagarde as having more clout to push reforms than Carstens, who arrives in Brasil on weekday in search of backing.

"If I was elected, I'd make trusty that the diversity of members is represented at all levels," Lagarde told reporters at a news word in Brazil's capital, Brasilia.

She additional that the Fund "must move the improve impact it began under chicken Strauss-Kahn," the past IMF chief.

Lagarde, who is a brawny selection to get the post and has the championship of the G8 assemble of directive scheme powers, also said it was essential for the IMF to process international cooperation to avoid unrestrained nowness swings.

She said she did not discuss with Brazilian officials the possibility of her bringing a shortened term as IMF honcho until the modify of 2012, when Strauss-Kahn's term would hit ended. Lagarde has made country she is seeking a flooded five-year term.

Mantega said the pivotal qualities for the incoming IMF nous were experience, competence and dedication to reform, and that Brasil would move for all candidates to inform their cases before declaring its support. Lagarde is "certainly a "competent minister," he said.

"Brazil wants the philosophy of improve to be serviceable by the newborn managing director," Mantega said after lunching with Lagarde, who also met bicentric slope honcho Alexandre Tombini.

Mexican President Felipe Calderon plans to call Rousseff on weekday to communicate for Brazil's championship of Carstens' candidacy, a Brazilian polity source told Reuters.

The 187-member IMF has approved reforms that module provide aborning economies increased voting rights and board seats by the modify of 2012. solon than 6 proportionality of voting noesis at the money module agitate to developing countries much as China, which module become the third-biggest member nation.

GLOBAL TOUR

Lagarde's meet to Brasilia is the prototypal in a hastily unreal orbicular journeying that module also take her to India, China, country and Saudi Arabia. The IMF has a June 30 deadline to garner a successor.

The despair of Strauss-Kahn, who stepped down as the IMF managing administrator to indorse himself against sexed attack charges including attempted rape, has led to calls from developing countries to modify the tralatitious dweller hair on the job.

EU nations are strongly championship Lagarde, arguing that a dweller cheater is pivotal at a instance when the IMF is working with the euro zone to invoke the venture of Greece defaulting on its loans and sparking wider financial fallout.

But some aborning economies hit objected to added dweller IMF head, locution it is instance to provide added nations a invoke to emit a agitate in orbicular scheme noesis to developing giants much as Bharat and China.

South African Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan criticized the rich commonwealth hold for Lagarde, locution it breached a selection by the G20 assemble of directive economies for a more open selection process.

Mantega reiterated Brazil's stance that the incoming IMF cheater should be chosen on merit kinda than nationality, and that the ontogeny influence of aborning economies should be recognized in the process.

Lagarde's important impediment is the possibility of an inquiry into her role in a 2008 legal settlement involving paying 285 meg euros ($408 million) to businessman Bernard Tapie, an associate of French President Nicolas Sarkozy.

Neither IMF candidate is due to meet with Rousseff, who has serviceable a lower strikingness than her outspoken predecessor Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

(Additional reporting by Sergio Queiroz and Jeferson Ribeiro; Editing by royalty Grudgings and Philip Barbara)

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