The International Monetary Fund’s new managing director, Christine Lagarde, said the global economy remains fragile and its recovery uneven, and that a top priority will be addressing the debt crisis in Europe and other nations.

“There are many issues that need to be addressed, those issues cannot wait for yet-another summer holiday,” Ms. Lagarde said at her first news conference as the IMF’s new leader. “You have the pressing immediate issues that have to do with sovereign debt … It’s broader than just the euro zone.”

Ms. Lagarde said she will be briefed later Wednesday on the loan package for Greece on which the executive board is scheduled to vote Friday. With assurances from its European partners that they will help finance their share of the mounting bailout loans and Athens’ approval of new measures to tighten Greece’s budget and raise revenues, the IMF is set to approve the next installment of its loan to the ailing country.