The head of the International Monetary Fund, Christine Lagarde, has confirmed she will stand for a second term, BBC News reports.

Lagarde threw her hat into the ring during an appearance on French television. Her term in office expires on July 5 and the process to find a successor opened this week.

The UK's Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne, has already said he is "delighted to nominate" her for a new term. She has also received the backing of Germany, China, France and Korea.

Last month, Lagarde was ordered to stand trial in France for alleged negligence over a compensation payment to a top businessman, Bernard Tapie. She approved the payment in 2008 when she was French finance minister.

However, Lagarde's lawyer described the decision to make her stand trial as "incomprehensible", and said the IMF boss would appeal.

Despite this controversy, commentators say she has no obvious challengers for the job.