Brazilian Finance Minister Guido Mantega blasted the United States and Europe Friday for stalling reforms that would water down their role in the International Monetary Fund. In a statement as representative to the Fund of 11 member countries, Mantega said the reform to the IMF's US and Europe-dominated shareholding and voting power had been repeatedly delayed, preventing a rebalancing that would permit emerging economies greater say.
"IMF reform may be at its nadir. Target dates have been missed, delays and procrastination have become routine," Mantega said. The two reforms - the 2010 rebalancing and capital doubling that was approved, and a planned, general quota review - have been stalled since 2011, he said.
The 2010 program has not gone through because it needs the support of the United States, where the Congress continues to block ratification. And the next quota review, which was to be completed by January 2014, is also delayed due to "resistance to change on the part of overrepresented European countries," Mantega said. "In other words, America is unable and Europe unwilling to follow through with agreed reforms. The institution's major shareholders are gambling, perhaps unwittingly, with the IMF's legitimacy and credibility." The delays are preventing emerging economic giants like China, Russia, India and Brazil from gaining greater say in IMF affairs via increased quotas, essentially their shareholding.