Brussels, 05/05/2004 (Agence Europe) - The administrators of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Tuesday appointed the Spaniard Rodriguo Rato to the post of Director General of the Fund for a term of five years. Mr Rato takes over from the German Horst Köhler, who resigned to general surprise on 4 March, to apply for the Presidency of Germany. The former Spanish Economy Minister, Mr Rato, was the European Union's candidate and was supported by the United States, the Fund's main stakeholder, making him the favourite for the post.
In a press release, the IMF states that Mr Rato's appointment, beating an Egyptian candidate to the post, was carried out in two stages by the 24 members of the board, representing the 184 Member States. "Initially, a confidential informal consultation showed a majority in favour of Mr Rato. Then the governors appointed him formally by consensus", said the press release. The main contributor, the US, has 17.14% of the votes in the board, followed by the other principal contributors, such as Japan (6.15% of the votes), Germany (6.01%), France and the United Kingdom (4.96% each). The 24 African members of the Fund were represented by the administrator of Equatorial Guinea, and have just 1.42% of the votes, whereas the countries of the European Union are represented by nine administrators out of 24.