Germany's drive to install its new candidate Mr Horst Kohler as head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) gained crucial momentum yesterday with Britain declaring its support amid signs Asian backing was growing.
A spokesman for the British Prime Minister, Mr Tony Blair, said Britain would throw its weight behind Mr Kohler, the head of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), who stepped in after Berlin's first choice Mr Caio Koch-Weser withdrew.
"We are supporting him," the spokesman said in London a day after German Chancellor Mr Gerhard Schroder said he had been assured by Mr Blair of Britain's backing. Mr Schroder's spokesman said the British endorsement was an "important part" of the process of rallying support in the European Union behind Mr Kohler (57), a conservative former finance ministry official.
"We are well on the way to agreeing on a common European candidate," spokesman Mr Uwe-Karsten Heye said, adding that the 15-state bloc might back Mr Kohler as soon as Monday at a meeting of finance ministers in Brussels.
Winning comprehensive European support is a pre-requisite for taking Mr Kohler's candidacy to the IMF executive board in Washington, where the United States and emerging countries will have a key say in whether it succeeds.
