October 18, 2019
BY NKECHI NAECHE ESEZOBOR IN WASHINGTON DC–-The IMF membership today endorsed a package of actions on IMF resources and governance reform. The package ensures that the IMF will continue to have sufficient resources to provide full confidence that it can adequately support its membership, and that quota and governance reforms will continue under the 16th General Review of Quotas.
“This endorsement by the International Monetary and Financial Committee (IMFC) highlights our support for the IMF to preserve its role at the center of the global financial safety net,” said Lesetja Kganyago, Chairman of the IMFC and Governor of the Reserve Bank of South Africa. “The IMFC will continue to work to ensure that the IMF has sufficient resources and that its governance appropriately reflects developments in the global economy and its membership.”
“I welcome this high-level endorsement, which demonstrates the strong support of our membership for the Fund’s mission,” IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said. “We will continue to work closely with our membership in the period ahead to ensure full implementation of this package.”
At the conclusion of a special session this morning, the IMFC issued the following statement:
We reaffirm our commitment to a strong, quota-based, and adequately resourced IMF to preserve its role at the center of the global financial safety net. We note the lack of progress on a quota increase under the 15th Review and call on the Executive Board to complete its work on the 15th Review and on a package of IMF resources and governance reforms, and to report to the Board of Governors as soon as possible. We support maintaining the IMF’s current resource envelope and welcome the extension of the 2016 Bilateral Borrowing Agreements by one year. We look forward to consideration of a doubling of the New Arrangements to Borrow and a further temporary round of bilateral borrowing beyond 2020.
“Beyond the 15th Review, we are committed to revisiting the adequacy of quotas and continuing the process of IMF governance reform under the 16th General Review of Quotas, including a new quota formula as a guide, with the Review to be extended from 2020 to no later than December 15, 2023. In this context, we remain committed to ensuring the primary role of quotas in IMF resources. Any adjustment in quota shares would be expected to result in increases in the quota shares of dynamic economies in line with their relative positions in the world economy and hence likely in the share of emerging market and developing countries as a whole, while protecting the voice and representation of the poorest members.”
