French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde said that her candidacy to lead the International Monetary Fund is in the spirit of reforms undertaken by the previous IMF leadership.

Lagarde arrived in Brazil on Monday, May 30, seeking to win support from one of the most influential emerging economies for her bid to the lead the IMF, Reuters reported.

Lagarde, a 55-year-old former lawyer, has been France's finance minister since 2007 and is heavily favored to succeed Dominique Strauss-Kahn as the top IMF official.

Strauss-Kahn, also French, has been charged with sexual assault in New York and resigned on May 19. He is on bail in the United States awaiting trial for attempted rape.