(WASHINGTON) - President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva "very much agreed" with the reforms proposed by the European Union's candidate to head the International Monetary Fund, a Lula aide said Wednesday.

"The president very much agreed with the issues presented him" by France's Dominique Strauss-Kahn, Lula's advisor for international policy Marco Aurelio Garcia told reporters after the two men met.

He said the Socialist party leader and former French finance minister told Lula change was needed in the IMF in "three key areas," including how member states were represented, how its managing director is selected and its operating program.

Brazil early last month said it expected the EU candidate to propose reforms that would give developing nations added clout within the international body.

Strauss-Kahn after his meeting with Lula told reporters, "If I am a candidate, it is because I want to change the IMF."

He added that the fund should play a stronger role in promoting "growth and development through financial stability."

He described his meeting with Lula as "cordial and warm," and said he had every intention of reconciling the IMF with Latin America, adding that he had told Lula he was aware of the IMF's poor image in the region.

Brazil, along with other developing nations, have for years protested the tradition that Europe selects the head of the IMF and the United States chooses the president of the World Bank.

Strauss-Kahn is on a world tour that has taken him to Africa and the United States, and that in the next few weeks will include China, India, Japan, South Korea, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Mexico, Chile and Argentina.

The Washington-based IMF is accepting nominations for managing director from any of its 185 members through August 31. It said the successful candidate would be chosen according to merit, without regard to nationality.

The IMF executive board launched on July 12 its search for a successor to Rodrigo Rato, who announced in late June he was resigning in late October, nearly two years before his term ends.

Three Frenchmen have held the managing director's job for more than 30 of the IMF's 61 years, and Frenchmen also currently head the World Trade Organization, the European Central Bank and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.

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