New International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde said Wednesday that the major challenges threatening the fragile and uneven global recovery prompted her to start her job immediately.

"There are many issues that need to be addressed, those issues cannot wait for yet another summer holiday," Lagarde said at her opening press conference.

In her position for just over 24 hours, Lagarde said the sovereign debt crisis and the potential for capital flows into developing countries to overheat their economies are her immediate concerns.

She said that while the financial crisis had abated since its peak, "some might argue it's still continuing given that the growth potential has not been restored in many countries given the fact that unemployment is still very high in many corners."

Given the hurdles facing the IMF under her leadership, she said she's starting her new post with a mixture of pride, humility and trepidation.

It is the first public appearance of the former French finance minister since she took on the top job at the world's last-chance bank. It comes as Europe 's sovereign debt crisis threatens to destabilize the fragile global recovery.

Lagarde, who said Wednesday she is starting her new post with a mixture of pride, humility and trepidation, replaces Dominique Strauss-Kahn, who resigned in May following indictment on sexual assault charges in New York.

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