IMF: Executive board briefed on Lagarde hearing

The Executive Board of International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Tuesday said its 24 board members have been briefed on IMF chief Christine Lagarde\'s recent hearing in France and voiced confidence in Lagarde\'s ability to fulfill her duties. \"As we have said before, it would not be appropriate to comment on a case that has been and is currently before the French judiciary,\" the Executive Board of the global lender said in a statement on Tuesday. \"However, the Executive Board has been briefed on this matter, including on the outcome of the recent hearings before the Court of Justice of the Republic in Paris, and has reaffirmed its confidence in the Managing Director\'s ability to effectively carry out her duties,\" noted the statement. The statement followed a French court\'s decision to give Lagarde \"assisted witness\" status after a two-day hearing over alleged abuse of office during her time as French finance minister in handling a case in relation to a businessman named Bernard Tapie. The hearing took place at the court last week over Lagarde\'s role in a controversial deal that handed some 400 million euros ( about 515 million U.S. dollars) to Tapie. Lagarde, former French finance minister, was tapped to serve as the IMF chief in 2011, succeeding Dominique Strauss-Kahn who resigned after being involved in a sexual assault case.