The International Monetary and Financial Committee (IMFC), the policy advisory body of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), on Saturday called for an "open, transparent and merit-based" process in selecting a new IMF head.

"The selection process for a new Managing Director has begun. The challenges we face are pressing, and an early conclusion to the selection process will be advantageous," IMFC Chairman Tharman Shanmugaratnam said in a statement.

"It is also imperative that the process be open, transparent and merit-based, so as to ensure the selection of a highly capable candidate, with the qualities needed to engage with a broad group of stake-holders internationally and sustain the Fund's active and effective role in global economic management," the statement added.

The IMFC, comprising finance ministers and central bank governors, is the primary advisory body of the IMF Board of Governors and deliberates on the principal policy issues facing the IMF.

Former IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn resigned earlier this week after he was accused of sexually assaulting a hotel maid in New York. John Lipsky now serves as acting Managing Director of the Washington-based financial agency.