French Central Bank Chief May Head IMF

Michel Camdessus, chief of the French central bank, was chosen to head the International Monetary Fund in a closed-door meeting Wednesday, according to a diplomatic source.

Camdessus, 53, who was opposed by Dutch Finance Minister H. Onno Ruding, eked out a narrow victory among the 151 member governments, the source said.

“There will be another session (today) to see if the other candidate will withdraw,” said the source, who spoke on condition that his name not be used.

A spokesman for the fund declined to say who had won.

The winner will succeed another Frenchman, Jacques De Larosiere, who has said he wants to return home at the end of the year.

Camdessus has spent most of his career in the French Treasury and the Banque de France, the country’s central bank.

He became its governor in 1984.

The governments were represented at the vote by 22 managing directors.

It was the first time in the fund’s 40-year history that there have been two candidates for the post.