Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the French Socialist former finance minister, was yesterday appointed managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) having promised to redouble efforts to revive the institution's fading relevance.

But the decision, which was a foregone conclusion in spite of Russia's sponsorship of a rival European candidate last month, underlined the continuing controversy over the US and Europe's carve-up of the top jobs at the IMF and the World Bank.

In June, Robert Zoellick, the former US deputy secretary of state, was appointed president of the World Bank after the resignation of Paul Wolfowitz, the former US deputy secretary of defence.

Mr Strauss-Kahn (64), once tipped as a possible French Socialist party presidential candidate, replaces Rodrigo de Rato, the former Spanish finance minister, who announced his resignation in June for personal reasons.

"[Dominique Strauss-Kahn] possesses the experience, vision and dedication to public service needed to successfully lead the IMF at this critical juncture," said Mr Rato, following yesterday's appointment.

The decision by the 24-member IMF board was a formality after Hank Paulson, the US Treasury secretary, last week endorsed Mr Strauss-Kahn's candidacy, saying that he would "make the bold reforms necessary to lead a strong and relevant fund into the future".

Mr Strauss-Kahn has pledged to push through greater representation for developing countries in the IMF's complex shareholding structure, which is largely based on member countries' economic weighting in dollar prices. Many European countries have resisted dilution of their weighting.

The IMF is also facing a growing financial shortfall because the larger developing countries, such as Brazil and the east Asian economies, have shunned the fund's credit lines in favour of the competitive spreads available on the international bond markets. - ( Financial Times service )