Ireland's Donohoe set for third term as Eurogroup head

BRUSSELS (Reuters) -Irish Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe is set to serve a third term as president of the Eurogroup of euro zone finance and economy ministers, after his two rivals for the post withdrew their candidacies on Monday.

Donohoe, who has already served two terms of 2-1/2 years, has said that the euro area needed to press on with investment in security, deepen its capital markets and boost its currency with the global economy "at a pivotal juncture".

He has also said that global uncertainty represents an enormous opportunity for the euro area and its currency.

"On the cusp of global rebalancing, the euro area has proven resilient," Donohoe wrote in his candidacy letter.

"We now have the opportunity to overcome our differences, find compromises and make progress to ensure a stronger global role for our common currency and continued resilience of the euro area for the coming decade and beyond.

Spanish Economy Minister Carlos Cuerpo and Lithuanian Finance Minister Rimantas Sadzius withdrew their candidacies after concluding they would not have enough votes, leaving the path clear for Donohoe.

Cuerpo said he had stepped aside in favour of a consensual candidate to avoid any sense of fragmentation.

Sadzius, who campaigned for more efficient meetings, said he believed the working methods of the Eurogroup would change even with the same president.

France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Spain wrote in June that they wanted greater efficiency and focus on issues that have the greatest impact on euro zone members.

(Reporting by Philip Blenkinsop, Charlotte Van Campenhout, Makini Brice and Inti Landauro; Editing by Emelia Sithole-Matarise)