No quick EU fix to elect new IMF chief

EU finance ministers are unlikely to be able to agree on their choice for the next head of the IMF at informal talks starting today.

The Minister for Finance, Charlie McCreevy, said he did not hold out "any great optimism" that a preferred choice to lead the body that tackles economic crisis could be agreed quickly.

The only official candidate so far is outgoing Spanish finance minister Rodrigo Rato.

But his chances were severely reduced by his government's shock defeat in elections following the Madrid blasts, and speculation now is focusing on a number of other candidates, notably French and Italian.

"We'd like to see ministers who have candidates in mind to put them on the table," said an Irish official today, as EU ministers began gathering for an informal two-day retreat at Punchestown.

After the blow to the Spanish minister's chances, the French head of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, Jean Lemierre, has emerged as the informal front-runner, backed by France and Germany.

By tradition the head of the IMF is a European while the top job at the World bank, the IMF's sister institution, goes to an American.