ASEAN+3 demands IMF quota hike for under-represented nations

Hyderabad, May 4 (UNI) Ahead of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund meetings in Singapore, the Finance Ministers of ASEAN+3 countries today called for an ad hoc quota increase for significantly under-represented countries in the IMF.

'To ensure the credibility and legitimacy of the Bretton Woods Institutions in the rapidly changing global economy, we emphasize the importance of adhoc quota increase for significantly underrepresented countries in the IMF' they said in a joint Ministerial statement after the ninth ASEAN+3 Finance Ministers meet here.

Addressing a joint press conference, Cambodia's Finance Minister Keat Chhon, who chaired the ninth ASEAN+3 Finance Ministers meeting coinciding with the 39th Asian Development Bank meeting of the Board of Governors, urged the IMF Managing director to work with the IMFC and Executive Board to come forward with concrete proposals for agreement at the upcoming meetings in Singapore.

The Finance Ministers of Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam, plus China, Japan and South Korea promised to play active roles in IMF policy-making and supporting its activities.

They decided to hold their next meeting at Kyoto, Japan in 2007 with Thailand and People's Republic of China co-chairing it.

On the Asian Bond Markets initiative, they noted that concrete progress had been achieved as indicated by the fact that the local currency bond market in the region had more than quadrapled since 1997. 'We believe that the study on the issuance of the asset-backed Asian currency-basket bonds and cross border local currency bonds would contribute to further development', they said.

UNI SM AA VD RN2021