Bridging the gap between rich and poor countries should be as high a priority for the International Monetary Fund as helping to solve the world’s financial imbalances, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the probable next managing director of the IMF told the Financial Times.

The former French finance minister, who is on a world tour to win support for his candidacy to head the IMF, said that “going south of the equator” would matter just as much as going “east to the Pacific” - a reference to deep concerns about the growing trade gap between China and the developed world. Mr. Strauss-Kahn will fly to Mozambique tomorrow to meet African finance ministers and then over the following two weeks to Mexico, Argentina, South Africa, Brazil, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, China, South Korea, Japan, India and Russia in what he freely described as a “campaign” among the largest developing countries to get the job.

The position opened up unexpectedly last month following the resignation of Rodrigo de Rato, the former Spanish finance minister, for personal reasons.

Asked whether Europe should continue to maintain its stranglehold on the top IMF job as the US does with the World Bank, Mr. Strauss- Kahn said he supported an open process and would welcome candidates from other parts of the world if they threw their hats into the ring before the closing date at the end of August.

“It is entirely legitimate for any country that is a member of the IMF to promote one of their nationals as a candidate,” he told the FT in his first interview since being proposed for the job.

“But of course that does not mean that a European cannot also be a candidate,” he added.

Yesterday the Bush administration formally endorsed Mr. Strauss-Kahn’s candidacy following his meeting with Hank Paulson, the US treasury secretary.

Read it here: http://www.ft.com/cms/s/6e753aca-3ca7-11dc-b067-0000779fd2ac.html