[Kabar-indonesia] IMF should give Asia more say in its affairs

[Joyo at aol.com]

The Business Times Singapore
Saturday, August 5, 2006

IMF should give Asia more say in its affairs

Anthony Rowley In Tokyo

JAPANESE Finance Minister Sadakazu Tanigaki yesterday
raised the pressure on the International Monetary Fund
(IMF) to give Asian countries a bigger say in the
affairs of the institution. His comments came on the
heel of a promise given in Tokyo on Thursday by IMF
managing director Rodrigo de Rato that a reform of IMF
quotas (which decide voting rights) would be high on
the agenda next month at the IMF's meeting in
Singapore.

'If we don't appropriately reflect voices of those
under-represented countries whose economies are
developing quickly, we cannot maintain the legitimacy
and credibility of the IMF,' Mr Tanigaki said. 'We
cannot do everything in one shot, so we would like to
first fix the problem of those countries that are
extremely under-represented and then move to a next
stage.'

During his visit to Tokyo to discuss the part that
Japan can play in solving the problem of global
financial imbalances, Mr de Rato said that an
important part of the IMF's medium-term strategy,
which will be debated by finance ministers from around
the world during the
annual meeting, is ensuring that the representation of
members in the IMF is fair, and that all members have
an adequate voice.

'I envisage that we tackle the issue in a two-year
programme of action, beginning with some key decisions
in Singapore in September,' he said. 'These would
include immediate action on quota increases for a few
countries whose quotas are most clearly out of line
with their weight in the global economy.

'But I would also want our members to agree to move
during the next two years on more fundamental
changes,' he added.

This would include a further round of ad-hoc increases
in quotas for under-represented members after a review
of the formula used to calculate such quotas
(shareholdings in effect), and measures to protect the
'voice' of those poorer countries that borrow from the
IMF but have only a limited share in voting.

Mr de Rato declined to reveal any details of the
changes in quotas (which also determine how much a
member country can borrow from the IMF) that are
likely to be agreed in Singapore.

However, US Treasury Undersecretary Tim Adams said
recently that he expected small quota increases would
be approved for China, South Korea, Mexico and Turkey,
and that this would add momentum for a broader quota
overhaul.

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Joyo Indonesia News Service
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