The Bulgarian chief executive of the World Bank, Kristalina Georgieva, has emerged as a disputed victor in a tight battle to be the European nominee to head the IMF, with the UK vainly seeking to champion George Osborne as an alternative.

Georgieva gained the support of 56% of the bloc’s 28 member states in a runoff against the former chair of the Eurogroup, Jeroen Dijsselbloem, but the Netherlands and Sweden swiftly insisted that they would not accept the result.