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World finance ministers agree IMF shake-up
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World finance ministers agree IMF shake-up
AFP - Sunday, October 24
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World finance ministers agree IMF shake-up
GYEONGJU, South Korea (AFP) - – The Group of 20 nations struck a hard-fought agreement Saturday on reforming the IMF to give a greater say to emerging nations such as China in the world's financial watchdog.
G20 finance ministers clinched the deal after years of efforts to make the Washington-based Fund better reflect a shift in global power -- with the result that China, India and others will gain more weight at Europe's expense.
"It's the biggest reform ever in the governance of the IMF," IMF managing director Dominique Strauss-Kahn told reporters as the G20 bloc of advanced economies and emerging powers met in the South Korean city of Gyeongju.
"It's a very historic agreement," he said.
In a statement, the G20 ministers said the revamp would "help deliver a more effective, credible and legitimate IMF and enable the IMF to play its role in supporting the operation of the international monetary and financial system".
In parallel, the G20 agreed to empower the IMF to exercise greater vigilance over national economic policies.
"We will reinvigorate our efforts to promote a stable and well-functioning international monetary system and call on the IMF to deepen its work in these areas," the ministers said.
The agreement came as the G20 strived to head off a "currency war" between big exporters such as China and deficit-ridden nations like the United States, which accuses Beijing of cheating in trade by keeping its currency cheap.
The United States has long pressed for the IMF to intervene more actively in currency disputes, but China has rejected even mild Fund strictures on its exchange-rate policy.
Formed after World War II to remake the world financial system and prevent a return to the 1930s Depression, the IMF has long been dominated by Western powers. But it has faced growing calls to adapt and grow more democratic.
The deal to reform the IMF's 24-member board of governors was thrashed out by the G20 ministers ahead of a summit next month of national leaders in Seoul. The existing IMF board will have to sign off on it at the start of November.
Strauss-Kahn said Europe had agreed to give up two seats on the board to accommodate developing nations.
About five percent of voting rights will be transferred, and Brazil, Russia, India and China will all emerge as among the top 10 IMF shareholders.
A senior US official praised European nations for showing leadership and understanding on the issue.
"For the Europeans to do this is genuinely difficult because it means that countries that have occupied these board seats for a very, very long time are moving over and making room for the emerging economies," the official said.
The United States currently provides a major chunk -- almost 17 percent -- of funding for the IMF, which has traditionally stepped in to help countries in financial trouble, usually attaching tough demands for reform.
Japan is the second largest shareholder, with Germany, France and Britain also substantial contributors.
But China, whose stunning economic transformation over the past three decades and resilience during the 2008-09 global crisis has shifted financial power eastwards, is now set to become a more high-profile player in the IMF.
The Fund found itself under intense pressure as the financial crisis exposed governments' inability to respond in a world of highly complex financial instruments.
In March 2009 the IMF created a so-called "flexible credit line" to pre-empt financial distress among its members, a system that is still being refined after the crisis laid bare the giddy speed at which capital can take flight.
Strauss-Kahn acknowledged that the IMF still had work to do in developing a South Korean proposal to create a broader "financial safety net" that might reduce the need for countries like China to build up huge currency reserves.
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