The former German deputy finance minister, Horst Koehler, has been unanimously elected as the new head of the International Monetary Fund.

He succeeds the Frenchman, Michel Camdessus, who resigned in February after thirteen years in the job.

The appointment of Mr. Koehler ends months of diplomatic wrangling after the first German nominee, Caio Koch-Weser, was rejected by the United States as not being up to the job.

A BBC correspondent in Washington says Mr Koehler is known as a conservative in tune with American ideas for reducing the IMF's role in the world economy.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service