A long-awaited reform of the International Monetary Fund's voting procedures that gives developing countries a modest increase in influence was formally adopted Tuesday, said Dominique Strauss-Kahn, IMF's managing director.
The IMF Board of Governors adopted by a more than 90 per cent vote far-reaching reforms of the institution's governance. The move shifts voting rights by 2.7 per cent away from advanced economies and in favour of developing countries, the dpa reported.
"This vote shows the overwhelming level of support across the Fund's membership for these reforms," said IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn. "I see this result as the beginning of the new legitimacy of the Fund."
Approval of the Resolution required 85 percent of the total voting power. Strauss-Kahn noted that 94.6 per cent of the members had approved the reforms.
The IMF head called the move an "important step toward a redistribution of voting shares toward dynamic emerging market and developing countries and we expect to see a continued shift over the next decade."
In addition to changes in the quota structure, the reform package, recommended by the IMF Executive Board on March 28, will increase the voting shares of more than two-thirds of the 185 member countries.
It will also triple the number of basic votes, the first such increase since the fund's creation in 1944, enabling each of the two executive directors representing African constituencies to appoint an additional alternate director.
"In particular, the tripling of basic votes reflects an innovative part of this reform effort, aimed at enhancing engagement and voice of our low-income members," Strauss-Kahn said. "To preserve this element of the reforms, the package includes a mechanism that will keep constant the ratio of basic votes to total voting power in the IMF."