India pitching for more say in IMF post G-20 deal

By V S Chandrasekar

London, Apr 4 (PTI) With its influence on global economic
affairs growing day by day, India is waiting for the earliest
opportunity to increase its say in the International Monetary
Fund and Asian Development Bank -- two key beneficiaries of
the USD 1.1 trillion G-20 rescue deal struck here on Thursday.

India, which has been pitching for reforming the IMF
shareholding structure to reflect the increasing strength of
emerging economies, hopes to see its Special Drawing Rights
quota in the multilateral institution double to four percent,
Indian sources said.

They are upbeat about such a development in the wake of
20 industrialised and emerging economies pledging to expand
the resources of the IMF and ADB and to bring forward the
quota review in the IMF.

While these institutions are not going to change
overnight, reforms cannot be postponed for long given the new
economic realities, sources said.

From less than 20 per cent, the combined size of the
Indian and Chinese economies have grown to over one-third of
the US economy in the last eight years, giving more voice to
the two fastest growing economies in the world.

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said at the end of
the Thursday summit that India can consider increasing the
contribution to IMF in proportion to its quota though it has
not visualised approaching the institution for borrowing in
the near future.

India is also not unduly worried about, what some
analysts say, is the "growing weightage" for China in
institutions like the IMF as it feels that China is definitely
a stronger and bigger economy than India but both have their
"own strengths and weaknesses".

The official communique issued at the end of the summit
recognised the importance of the issue when it said that
alongside the significant increase in resources agreed, the
G-20 countries were determined to reform and modernise the
international financial institutions to ensure they can assist
members and shareholders effectively in the new challenges
they face.

"We will reform their mandates, scope and governance to
reflect the changes in the world economy and the new
challenges of globalisation, and that emerging and developing
economies, including the poorest, must have greater voice and
representation," it said.

Towards this end, the leaders pledged to implement the
package of IMF quota and voice reforms to complete the next
review of quotas in the IMF by 2011. PTI VSC
SAK
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