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Germanyâ€™s Wolfgang Schauble ranked best, Ireland’s Brian Lenihan ranked worst

07 December 2010 09:50 (UTC +04:00)

Baku - APA-Economics. A day ahead of presenting Budget 2011, Ireland’s Minister for Finance Brian Lenihan has been ranked worst of 19 finance ministers in an annual ranking published in The Financial Times and Germany’s Wolfgang SchÃ¤uble was ranked best, FinFacts Ireland reported.

â€œBrian Lenihan was overwhelmed by the crisis in Irelandâ€™s banking system and the implosion of the countryâ€™s economic growth,â€ said the FT.

Lenihan had been unable to restore market confidence in the banks, the newspaper said following a selection that was made by a jury of economists.

â€œMr Lenihan could argue that an objective assessment of finance ministers is impossible: the impact of decisions taken now might not be seen for years; some events are beyond their control; economists fight over what is the best response to crises. But since when have talent shows been fair?â€ the newspaper said.

Greek Finance Minister George Papaconstantinou was judged to have the best political skills of the 19 ministers and got an over 8th rank overall.

George Osborne, Britain’s Chancellor of the Exchequer got a 6th rank for his skill in pushing through a bold fiscal austerity plan.

Germanyâ€™s Wolfgang SchÃ¤uble ranked best, owing to the recovery of his economy and the stimulus that was one of the largest as a ratio of GDP (gross domestic product) during the crisis.

He has also been prominent in pushing for a permanent Eurozone rescue mechanism and he took swift action in scaling back emergency measures once the economic recovery took hold.

Poland’s Jacek Rostowski ranks second and Franceâ€™s Christine Lagarde, last year’s winner, slid into third place.