ID :
57550
Mon, 04/27/2009 - 06:20
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/57550
The shortlink copeid
IMF wins strong support to revamp capacity in time of crisis+
WASHINGTON, April 25 Kyodo - The International Monetary Fund on Saturday garnered widespread support to rebuild its functions to meet the needs of countries badly shaken by the most severe economic downturn in more than 50 years.
The IMF's primary policy-guiding body agreed to take additional steps to
restore global financial stability and to realize an early economic recovery.
''We underline the central role of the IMF and ... commit ourselves to further
strengthening the fund's ability to assist in meeting members' external
needs,'' the International Monetary and Financial Committee (IMFC) said in a
statement after the one-day meeting in Washington.
The IMF, which also stands at an important juncture in its own governance
reforms, was one of the biggest winners from the Group of 20 leading and
emerging economies summit in London less than a month ago.
To help boost global liquidity, the G-20 leaders have agreed to triple the
resources available to the IMF to $750 billion and allocate an additional $250
billion worth of Special Drawing Rights, a synthetic currency issued by the
Washington-based lender to its 185 member countries.
Many countries, including India, Japan and the United States, said the IMF
needs to improve its capability to resolve the current crisis and prevent a
repeat in the future.
''While we are ensuring that the IMF has adequate resources, we urge the IMF to
make sure the resources are accessible to members and are targeted to the most
pressing problems,'' U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said at the
meeting, attended by financial chiefs from the committee's 24 member countries.
Bank of Japan Governor Masaaki Shirakawa, who represented Japan at the
gathering, promised that Tokyo would play a greater role in providing financial
and human resources to enhance the IMF's functions.
''For the fund to fulfill its expected roles, it is of foremost importance that
the fund provides timely and effective assistance to member countries in need
by making use of its strengthened financial resources,'' Shirakawa said,
reading a speech on behalf of Finance Minister Kaoru Yosano.
As for additional resources, countries including Japan, the European Union,
Canada and Switzerland, have already pledged they would be ready to provide
money.
U.S. President Barack Obama has recently proposed to provide a loan of $100
billion to the IMF in a letter to Congress.
The IMF is hoping to settle the rest of the $500 billion as early as May, but
there were no clear pledges from other countries at the policy committee,
according to conference sources.
Before any other country, Japan pledged $100 billion in November, which has set
the trend to strengthen IMF resources and led to the major achievement at the
G-20 summit.
Shirakawa also welcomed the IMF's renewed lending facility, such as simplifying
and relaxing its conditionality for loan programs. He said ''progress has been
made, in particular, based on the lessons that originated from the experience
of the Asian financial crisis.''
The current crisis has given new impetus to a call to craft a more
comprehensive multilateral institution.
To reflect the realities of the new global economic landscape, emerging
heavyweights, such as Brazil, China and India, have been demanding increased
voting weight and representation in the governance structures of the IMF and
other international institutions.
The London summit asked to finish reviewing the IMF quota system -- which
determines each country's financial commitment and voting power -- by January
2011.
In the communique, the IMFC, headed by Egyptian Finance Minister Youssef
Boutros-Ghali, said the process of studying the elements for a new quota
formula should begin before its next meeting in October.
Currently, IMF leadership has been dominated by the United States, Western
European countries and Japan.
For many years, the IMF's fundamental mission was to provide loans to countries
with balance of payment difficulties.
But the crisis prompted the institution, set up in 1944 at a New Hampshire
resort Bretton Woods, to expand its mandate.
The IMF is now actively playing such roles as assisting countries that are
suddenly in dire fiscal straits, boosting world liquidity and carrying out
economic surveillance.
The IMFC, set up in 1999, normally meets twice a year in spring and autumn.
==Kyodo
The IMF's primary policy-guiding body agreed to take additional steps to
restore global financial stability and to realize an early economic recovery.
''We underline the central role of the IMF and ... commit ourselves to further
strengthening the fund's ability to assist in meeting members' external
needs,'' the International Monetary and Financial Committee (IMFC) said in a
statement after the one-day meeting in Washington.
The IMF, which also stands at an important juncture in its own governance
reforms, was one of the biggest winners from the Group of 20 leading and
emerging economies summit in London less than a month ago.
To help boost global liquidity, the G-20 leaders have agreed to triple the
resources available to the IMF to $750 billion and allocate an additional $250
billion worth of Special Drawing Rights, a synthetic currency issued by the
Washington-based lender to its 185 member countries.
Many countries, including India, Japan and the United States, said the IMF
needs to improve its capability to resolve the current crisis and prevent a
repeat in the future.
''While we are ensuring that the IMF has adequate resources, we urge the IMF to
make sure the resources are accessible to members and are targeted to the most
pressing problems,'' U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said at the
meeting, attended by financial chiefs from the committee's 24 member countries.
Bank of Japan Governor Masaaki Shirakawa, who represented Japan at the
gathering, promised that Tokyo would play a greater role in providing financial
and human resources to enhance the IMF's functions.
''For the fund to fulfill its expected roles, it is of foremost importance that
the fund provides timely and effective assistance to member countries in need
by making use of its strengthened financial resources,'' Shirakawa said,
reading a speech on behalf of Finance Minister Kaoru Yosano.
As for additional resources, countries including Japan, the European Union,
Canada and Switzerland, have already pledged they would be ready to provide
money.
U.S. President Barack Obama has recently proposed to provide a loan of $100
billion to the IMF in a letter to Congress.
The IMF is hoping to settle the rest of the $500 billion as early as May, but
there were no clear pledges from other countries at the policy committee,
according to conference sources.
Before any other country, Japan pledged $100 billion in November, which has set
the trend to strengthen IMF resources and led to the major achievement at the
G-20 summit.
Shirakawa also welcomed the IMF's renewed lending facility, such as simplifying
and relaxing its conditionality for loan programs. He said ''progress has been
made, in particular, based on the lessons that originated from the experience
of the Asian financial crisis.''
The current crisis has given new impetus to a call to craft a more
comprehensive multilateral institution.
To reflect the realities of the new global economic landscape, emerging
heavyweights, such as Brazil, China and India, have been demanding increased
voting weight and representation in the governance structures of the IMF and
other international institutions.
The London summit asked to finish reviewing the IMF quota system -- which
determines each country's financial commitment and voting power -- by January
2011.
In the communique, the IMFC, headed by Egyptian Finance Minister Youssef
Boutros-Ghali, said the process of studying the elements for a new quota
formula should begin before its next meeting in October.
Currently, IMF leadership has been dominated by the United States, Western
European countries and Japan.
For many years, the IMF's fundamental mission was to provide loans to countries
with balance of payment difficulties.
But the crisis prompted the institution, set up in 1944 at a New Hampshire
resort Bretton Woods, to expand its mandate.
The IMF is now actively playing such roles as assisting countries that are
suddenly in dire fiscal straits, boosting world liquidity and carrying out
economic surveillance.
The IMFC, set up in 1999, normally meets twice a year in spring and autumn.
==Kyodo
