The International Monetary Fund (IMF) would continue the efforts to enhance its legitimacy and give underrepresented countries a greater say, Christine Lagarde, Managing Director of the IMF, said on Monday.

It is important to see that "the underrepresented countries, whether dynamic or not, whether emerging or not, have their proper say, have proper representation, have a proper seat within the Fund," the new IMF chief told reporters at an IMF media roundtable meeting.

Lagarde held that the Fund could reflect adequately the size, the population, the gross domestic product (GDP) and the role played by countries in the world in this way.

In response to questions from Xinhua, the newly-appointed IMF leader at the helm noted that the Washington-based agency needs to fulfill the implementation of the reform that was agreed in November 2010 to improve the Fund's governance, adding that a lot still remains to be done.

"Countries agreed to increase their quotas, but they need to do their homework back at home, generally with their parliament, to make sure the quotas are approved, agreed, paid up by the member states. Not many countries have yet done that," said the new head of the 187-member international financial institution.

"Before the end of 2012 the Europeans must reduce their chairs in the Executive Board by two. Negotiations are going on, not yet completed, but will have to be implemented by the fall of 2012," she added.

The IMF's first female chief noted last week at her first news conference as IMF Managing Director that she backs giving developing countries a greater role in the agency, and that she was considering creating a fourth Deputy Managing Director position.

She told the group of reporters that there will be an announcement about IMF management on Tuesday, without elaborating on the details.