Finance Minister Charlie McCreevy says the EU has agreed on former Spanish finance minister Rodrigo Rato as its candidate to take over as head of the International Monetary Fund.
By tradition, the head of the IMF is a European while the top job at the World Bank, the IMF's Washington-based sister institution, goes to a US national.
'European finance ministers attached great importance to Mr Rato's distinguished record, wide policy experience and political expertise as a former finance minister in Spain,' an EU statement said.
Rato emerged as the EU's sole candidate for the position this week after a rival French contender, Jean Lemierre, dropped out of the race and was re-elected for a second term as president of the European Bank for Reconstruction and
Development.
The top job at the IMF became free after the current incumbent, German Horst Koehler, quit to run for the presidency of Germany.
