Lagarde to rely on political skill to overcome shortcomings at ECB

FILE PHOTO: International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde is seen before attending the Women's Forum Americas, at Claustro de Sor Juana University in Mexico City, Mexico, May 30, 2019. REUTERS/Carlos Jasso

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - A shrewd negotiator who has run the IMF but has little monetary policy experience, Christine Lagarde will face the challenge as the European Central Bank's new chief of having to revive the euro zone economy with a largely depleted policy arsenal.

Once France's first woman finance minister, and head of the International Monetary Fund since 2011, she is a strong advocate of female empowerment who has long argued that more women in banking and regulation would improve financial stability.