The UK, France and Germany have come out in support of Christine Lagarde to serve a second five-year term as managing director of the International Monetary Fund, in a series of early moves designed to create unstoppable momentum behind her.

The formal nomination by UK chancellor George Osborne came within seconds of the fund on Thursday beginning a three-week nominating period for candidates. Ms Lagarde, whose current five-year term ends in July, is widely considered a sure bet for a second mandate.

At a briefing in Davos, Manuel Valls, French prime minister, also added a message of support for Ms Lagarde according to Reuters, after being asked whether France supported her reappointment.

“French authorities support Christine Lagarde,” Valls said according to an English translation of his words. Mr Valls added that the finance ministry would be making a statement in Paris on Friday.

Germany’s finance ministry said in a statement reported by Bloomberg that Lagarde was “a prudent and successful crisis manager in difficult times” after the financial crisis.

The former French finance minister, who has indicated that she would like to stay on at the IMF, has been praised for building its public stature, advancing reforms to give China and other emerging economies a greater voice, and pushing the fund into discussions on topics such as inequality and climate change.

The nomination by Mr Osborne, which came at a minute past midnight in Washington on Thursday, is aimed at building momentum behind Ms Lagarde even though she faces a possible criminal trial in France this year over her role in a 2008 payment to businessman Bernard Tapie.

As an indication of US support, vice-president Joe Biden publicly praised Ms Lagarde at the World Economic Forum in Davos on Wednesday. The US Treasury did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

A second term for Ms Lagarde would keep the leadership of the fund in European hands, even though many emerging economies have questioned the perception of favourable treatment for European borrowers from the institution.

Under the guidelines laid out on Wednesday, the IMF board of 24 executive directors is supposed to pick the best candidate in what its dean, Russian executive director Aleksei Mozhin, called “an open, merit-based, and transparent process”. But the fund has had a European managing director since its inception while its Bretton Woods cousin, the World Bank, has had a president nominated by the US.

Mr Osborne’s nomination comes as no surprise — a political friend of Ms Lagarde, he has since October consistently expressed support for her continuing in the role.

“I nominated Christine for her first term in May 2011 and since then she has exhibited outstanding leadership, skilfully steering the fund through big economic challenges, while working hard to deliver historic reforms to the IMF,” he said in a statement.

“At a time when the world faces what I’ve called a dangerous cocktail of risks, I believe Christine has the vision, energy and acumen to help steer the global economy through the years ahead.”

Ms Lagarde took the reins of the IMF after the sudden resignation of her countryman Dominique Strauss-Kahn amid a sex scandal.

The former lawyer has been praised for helping steer the IMF through the eurozone crisis and contentious negotiations with Greek and European authorities. The negotiations are likely to heat up again in coming months as the IMF’s role in a new Greek bailout is worked out and Ms Lagarde presses Greece’s European creditors to restructure its debts.

At a time when the world faces what I’ve called a dangerous cocktail of risks, I believe Christine has the vision, energy and acumen to help steer the global economy through the years ahead

She also played a major role in getting the US Congress to sign off last year on 2010 reforms to the fund’s shareholding structure that allow a greater voice for China and other developing countries within the IMF.

But her biggest political bet has been championing the case of China during the past year as it sought to have the renminbi included in the elite basket of reserve currencies used to value the IMF’s own de facto currency, the special drawing rights.

With that move, which garnered the support of the US and other shareholders at the end of November, Ms Lagarde seems likely to have won the support of Beijing for a second term and caused a potential split among emerging members of the IMF should another candidate come forward.

However, the decision to bring the renminbi into the fold has also opened the IMF up to potential criticism that it has been too easy on China, particularly after the turmoil in Chinese currency and other markets.

The IMF’s board said it would accept nominations for managing director until February 10 with an aim of completing the selection process “by consensus” by March 3.