German Chancellor Mr Gerhard Schroder has said a European consensus is emerging on Berlin's candidate to head the International Monetary Fund.

As his government continued a frantic lobbying exercise around European capitals, Mr Schroder said: "We have gone a very good way towards reaching a European consensus on this issue."

He said he had been assured of British Prime Minister Mr Tony Blair's support for Mr Horst Kohler, head of the London-based European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. Mr Schroder also won backing from Mr Wim Kok, the Dutch Prime Minister, who was in Berlin.