UPDATE 1-France says backs UK's Chakrabarti for new term as EBRD chief

(Adds French confirmation)
By Marc Jones and Michel Rose
LONDON/PARIS, March 3 (Reuters) - France backs Britain's
Suma Chakrabarti's second term as head of the European Bank for
Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), the office of the French
finance minister said on Thursday, confirming an earlier Reuters
report.
"I confirm our support to Suma Chakrabarti," a spokesman for
Michel Sapin told Reuters.
One of the sources, a European finance ministry
official who requested anonymity, had said that the French had
written this week to the Secretary-General of the EBRD
expressing their support for Chakrabarti.
"It is of course still early in the process, but the French
letter follows other countries who have already spoken up in his
favour," the source said.
Chakrabarti has been at the helm of the London-based
development bank since 2012 and the move by France could deter
potential challengers for the role, such as Poland's central
bank governor Marek Belka. [nL8N1632D5
Nominations for the job close on March 11 and if there is a
challenger the bank's members will vote at the bank's annual
meeting in May.
The EBRD was created in 1991, originally to invest in the
former Soviet bloc countries of eastern Europe to rebuild their
economies and improve communist-era infrastructure.
Chakrabarti's four-year term has been a difficult one for
the bank. In 2014, the EBRD stopped lending in Russia,
traditionally its biggest market, after Western countries
imposed sanctions on Moscow over Ukraine. It saw its first
annual loss since the 2007-08 financial crisis.
But the EBRD has also continued to expand its reach. It is
has started lending in euro zone crisis countries Greece and
Cyprus. Lebanon is expected to be next, while China has become a
member.