Pressure mounts on IMF chief

NEW YORK - Dominique Strauss-Kahn, head of the IMF, is under growing pressure to resign since his bail was denied on Monday and a trial will not begin until six months later, which could severely impair his ability to run the Fund.

The IMF said it had not been in touch with Strauss-Kahn since his arrest but it would be important to do so "in due course" and ask whether he planned to continue in his post.

In the United States, the IMF's biggest shareholder, politicians began questioning the viability of his tenure as head of the institution charged with managing the world economy and central to negotiating debt crisis deals.