A two-day informal retreat at a racecourse outside Dublin failed to come up with a single candidate to succeed Horst Koehler as chief of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), a post which traditionally goes to a European.

"I don't think that we'll have a decision today. We'll have to discuss the matter in depth, taking into consideration what colleagues in other parts of the world are thinking," said Luxembourg's Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker.

Koehler announced his resignation as the IMF chief on March 4 to run for president in his native Germany, for which he is widely seen as a shoe-in in May elections.

Traditionally the managing director of the IMF has been a European and the president of the World Bank an American.

The only declared candidate so far is Spanish Finance Minister Rodrigo Rato. But his hopes were dealt a severe blow by his government's surprise election defeat last month after the March 11 Madrid bombings.

In the wake of the Spanish shock the French head of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), Jean Lemierre, has emerged as frontrunner, notably due to backing by EU heavyweights France and Germany.

EU trade commissioner Pascal Lamy has also thrown his hat into the ring, while Italy's Mario Monti, the bloc's competition commissioner, is also reported to be among other candidates interested.

Juncker said the ministers, meeting for a second day of informal talks in Ireland, hoped to have a "final round" of talks at a meeting of the EBRD in London on April 18-19.

British Chancellor Gordon Brown, who holds a key post on the IMF executive, made no comment as he arrived for the talks.

But said Juncker: "I guess that we'll have a final informal round in the margin of the (EBRD) meeting in London," adding: "I don't know if we will have a decision there but we will make final progress in the course of that meeting."