The European Union on Saturday backed plans to give poor and rapidly developing countries more voting power in the International Monetary Fund, as the public lending agency seeks to adapt to a new world economic order.
The EU, however, demanded that it be treated equally in any radical revamp of the IMF, whose role as lender of last resort is waning since the Asian crises of the 1990s and the rise of economies such as China, now the world's fourth-largest.
"Now we can speak with one voice when we go to Singapore," said Finnish Finance Minister Eero Heinaluoma, who attend the IMF gatherings because his country holds the EU's rotating presidency.
He said the Europeans backed a proposal to grant extra votes to poor countries whose already-lesser say has dwindled over the years. The EU also backed a one-off rise in voting rights for four countries - China, South Korea, Mexico and Turkey.
IMF chief Rodrigo Rato was asked at IMF meetings in April to produce plans for a more fundamental revamp of the workings of the fund and also to propose ways of giving it a greater role on matters of currency policy.
Heinaluoma said the Europeans were happy about the idea of a second phase of reform in voting rights, but made it clear that this was not going to happen fast, and that Europe was keen to make sure it did not lose clout. "It's obvious there are harder tasks ahead after the first phase," he said.
The ministers issued a statement saying this second stage of reform should base countries' voting weight on GDP plus how open they were to trade and in finance.
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