Washington:
Christine Lagarde arrived at the Washington, DC, headquarters of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Tuesday, the first day of her five year tenure as the managing director of the international fund.
The former finance minister of France is the first woman to hold the position.
She takes over control of the IMF from Dominique Strauss-Kahn, who facing charges of the sexual assault of a New York hotel housekeeper.
Strauss-Kahn walked out of court on Friday, without bail and free from house arrest, after prosecutors acknowledged there were questions about the credibility of the hotel housekeeper's testimony.
The IMF revealed on Tuesday that Lagarde will receive over 550,000 US dollars a year in total compensation.
That includes an after-tax salary of 467,940 US dollars a year and an annual allowance of 83,760 US dollars for living expenses, the IMF said.
Lagarde takes charge of the IMF at a critical economic time as the fund works to help support Greece and other troubled European economies.