BRICS voices disappointment with non-implementation of IMF reforms

Fortaleza (Brazil), July 16: The world's leading emerging economies Tuesday expressed their disappointment with the failure to implement the 2010 International Monetary Fund (IMF) reforms.

"We remain disappointed and seriously concerned with the current non-implementation of" the IMF reforms, said a joint declaration of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, collectively known as BRICS, Xinhua reported.

The failure negatively impacts the global lender's legitimacy, credibility and effectiveness, added the Fortaleza Declaration, released here following the sixth BRICS summit.

"The IMF reform process is based on high-level commitments, which already strengthened the Fund's resources and must also lead to the modernization of its governance structure so as to better reflect the increasing weight of" emerging markets and developing countries in the world economy, stressed the document.

"The fund must remain a quota-based institution," the BRICS countries said, while calling on the membership of the IMF to carry out the overdue reforms without further delay.

In parallel, they urged the IMF to "develop options to move ahead with its reform process, with a view to ensuring increased voice and representation" of developing countries, in case the 2010 reforms are not entered into force by the end of the year.

The five countries called upon the IMF to reach a final agreement on a new quota formula without further jeopardising the postponed deadline of January 2015.

In addition, the bloc welcomed the goals set by the World Bank Group to help countries end extreme poverty and promote shared prosperity.

In order to unleash its potential, the institution needs to move towards more democratic governance structures, strengthen the bank's capacity and explore innovative ways to enhance development financing and knowledge sharing while pursuing a strong client orientation that recognizes each country's development needs, they proposed.

"We look forward to initiating the work on the next shareholding review at the World Bank as soon as possible in order to meet the agreed deadline of October 2015. In this sense, we call for an international financial architecture that is more conducive to overcoming development challenges," said the declaration.

IANS