Profile: Caio Koch-Weser

The IMF headquarter in Washington could be Mr Koch-Weser's next stop

On paper Europe's candidate for the post of managing director of the IMF looks like the ideal man for the job.

Born in Latin-America and fluent in four languages, Caio Koch-Weser is an economist specialising in developing countries. During 26 years working for the World Bank he built up a reputation as a skilled mediator.

Caio Koch-Weser, pushed by Germany, little loved elsewhere

He became the German government's deputy finance minister as recently as spring 1999. He holds both a German and a Brazilian passport.

Tradition has it that the IMF's top job goes to a European, while the deputy comes from the US. So he would be the man to get the job.

Lukewarm support

But Mr Koch-Weser will not find it easy to make his mark, even if he is assigned the post.

For starters he has received, at best, lukewarm support from EU governments.

When Germany first suggested his nomination, Berlin officials found it difficult to find anyone to back him.

A whispering campaign in Washington and London suggested that he lacked the political weight needed for the job.

In Paris, meanwhile, the government clearly felt that it should have more of a say in nominating a successor to Michel Camdessus, the Frenchman who retired as the IMF's managing director on 14 February.

Michel Camdessus, the IMF's boss for 13 years, is a hard act to follow

But Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder lobbied hard for his candidate, and lacking a strong alternative, EU governments have finally agreed to support him.

Larry Summers, the US treasury secretary, has made little effort to hide his dislike of Mr Koch-Weser. That, though, might actually help his candidacy, as it could bring him the support of countries who would like to see the US influence on the IMF contained.

If elected, Mr Koch-Weser would be the first German in the job.

Born in Brazil

He was born in 1944 in the Brazilian town of Rolandia, to parents who had fled Nazi Germany in 1933.

He grew up on the family's coffee plantation, before studying economics and sociology in Muenster, Berlin and Bonn.

In 1973 he joined the World Bank, where he specialised in aid for developing countries.

In 1996, he became the bank's managing director for operations, with responsibility for a large number of its regional and sectoral programs.

He joined the German government in 1999, part of the team brought in by Hans Eichel, who took over as finance minister from controversial left-winger Oskar Lafontaine.

Mr Koch-Weser is married, with three children.