THE HAGUE, 24/01/07 - Jeroen Kremers, Dutch administrator at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in Washington, will step down on 1 May. The Netherlands has proposed Age Bakker to succeed Kremers at the IMF.

Bakker is currently working at De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB) as Financial Markets division director. He is also assistant director for Monetary and Economic Policy. Additionally, he is professor of Monetary and Banking Affairs at Amsterdam's Free University (VU).

As administrator, Kremers has for over four years represented the interests of the Netherlands and 11 other countries from the Netherlands voting group within the IMF. Representatives are generally chosen for two-year periods by the countries they represent.

Kremers is moving to ABN Amro Bank. At the bank, he will be "responsible for the bank's involvement in economic, political, social and environmental questions, including economic research and ABN Amro's relations with governments on world, regional and national level," according to the finance ministry.