Christine Lagarde, the frontrunner to become the next managing director of the International Monetary Fund, has sought to head off opposition from developing economies to her candidacy, promising they would be fairly represented at senior positions at the fund.

Ms Lagarde, who on Wednesday launched her campaign to become IMF chief, made the promise as she prepared for a tour of emerging market capitals to persuade them a European should once again hold the top job in global finance.

Earlier this week, Brazil, Russia, India, South Africa and China signed a joint declaration calling for an end “to the unwritten and obsolete convention that says the managing director of the IMF should be a European”. Since its foundation in 1947, the IMF has always been run by a European, many of whom have been French.