IMF chief gets to keep job despite affair

Washington:The head of the International Monetary Fund will remain in his job after the agency's executive board concluded that there is no cause for dismissal over an extramarital relationship.

The IMF board issued a statement late on Saturday saying that the actions of IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn were "regrettable and reflected a serious error of judgment". However, the 24-member board of directors decided that Strauss-Kahn's relationship with the former IMF employee was consensual and did not involve any type of sexual harassment, favouritism or any abuse of authority.

The board, which represents all 185 member-nations of the lending institution, reached its conclusions at the end of a daylong meeting at IMF headquarters in Washington.

The board said that based on the findings of an outside law firm hired to investigate the matter and discussions on Saturday with Strauss-Kahn, that they now consider the incident closed.