IMF Board Unanimously OKs New Leader

The International Monetary Fund’s board moved quickly to endorse Germany’s Horst Koehler as the lending agency’s new leader, ending a messy succession squabble. The IMF said the 24 directors unanimously agreed on Koehler as successor to Frenchman Michel Camdessus, who resigned in February after 13 years as head of the 182-nation organization. Koehler, 57, was put forward by German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder after his first candidate for the post, Caio Koch-Weser, a deputy finance minister, was rejected by the United States as lacking stature. Koehler heads the London-based European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and is credited with helping unify Germany and create the common currency--the euro--now used by 11 European countries.