WASHINGTON, June 28: The head of the International Monetary Fund, Rodrigo Rato, announced on Thursday he would leave his job in October ahead of schedule for personal reasons.

Rato informed the IMF executive board that he will not be able to serve the full length of his five-year term as managing director, the Washington-based multilateral institution said.

He “intends to leave the Fund in October following the conclusion of the 2007 annual meetings of the boards of Governors of the IMF and World Bank Group,” the IMF said in a statement.

The statement quoted Rato’s explanation of his decision to the board:

“I have taken this decision for personal reasons. My family circumstances and responsibilities, particularly with regard to the education of my children, are the reason for relinquishing earlier than expected my responsibilities at the Fund,” Rato said.

“I wanted to share my decision with you as soon as I made it in order to provide the board with reasonable time to appoint my successor,” he told the board.

“Professionally it has not been an easy decision because, as you all know, I have the highest regard for this institution, its staff, its role in the global economic architecture, and its enviable ability to adapt to changing global circumstances to ensure that it can serve its members effectively.”

The announcement came with the IMF struggling to maintain its role in the global financial community after being shunned by many of the countries it had previously helped.

Rato, a former Spanish finance minister, replaced Horst Koehler of Germany in May 2004 for a five-year term after Koehler resigned to stand for the German presidency.

Rato's announced departure follows this week’s change of leadership at the IMF’s sister institution, the poverty-fighting World Bank, under a cloud of scandal.—AFP