ASEM prod IMF quota reform

BELGIUM: European and Asian leaders Monday called for the completion of the quota reform of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) by the upcoming G20 summit late next month.

The reform of the international lending body was one of the subjects being discussed at the 8th Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) summit, the highest-level forum under the ASEM framework, some of whose current 48 members come from beyond the two continents..

“We support the implementation of the IMF quota reform by the G20 Summit of November, to adequately reflect the relative weight and responsibilities of the IMF members in the world economy,” European Union (EU) President Herman Van Rompuy said after chairing a session Monday. With one month to go before the G20 summit in Seoul, the ASEM summit is seen as an opportunity for European and Asian leaders to build momentum for the reform of the IMF.

“The IMF quota shares must be shifted to dynamic emerging markets and developing countries by at least five percent from overrepresented to underrepresented countries,” Van Rompuy said..

G20 leaders agreed to such a shift in quota share at their 2009 summit in the US city of Pittsburgh, where they also committed themselves to completing the reallocation when they meet in South Korea in November.

The Seoul summit must deliver on the promised IMF quota reform, and any failure would put the credibility of the G20 at risk, said Rhee Changyong, secretary general of South Korea’s Presidential Committee for the G20 Summit.

“In order to maintain the effectiveness of the G20, I think our leaders have to deliver this outcome,” Rhee told reporters on the sidelines of the ASEM summit, which South Korea was also attending.

“If you do not meet these things, I think media and public opinion would say that the G20 can not deliver these important targets,” he warned. Brussels, Tuesday, Xinhua