[stop-imf] G-7 TO PUSH FOR REDISTRIBUTION OF VOTING POWER IN IMF

[Robert Weissman]

>From the World Banks Development News, June 23, 2000

G-7 TO PUSH FOR REDISTRIBUTION OF VOTING POWER IN IMF. Finance ministers
from the Group of Seven (G-7) industrial nations are poised to push for a
redistribution of voting power within the International Monetary Fund
(IMF) when they assemble in Japan next week, Japan Economic Newswire
reports an international financial source said today.

They will probably make a reference in a report to be submitted to their
leaders to a shared eagerness to have voting in the Washington-based IMF
better reflect the rising economic power of Asia, the source said. Senior
officials from the G-7, which groups Britain, Canada, France, Germany,
Italy, Japan and the United States, are discussing the exact wording of
the report that will deal with IMF voting and other reforms of the global
financial system, the source said.

The envisaged call for the reassessment of the IMF's quota distribution,
voting rights and representation on its board is one of Japan's
initiatives as host of this year's Group of Eight (G-8) summit. The G-8
summit is set for July 21-23 in Okinawa. As part of preparations for the
summit, the G-7 finance ministers will meet in Fukuoka on July 8 and G-8
foreign ministers in Miyazaki on July 12-13. The G-8 is the G-7 plus
Russia.


This summary is prepared by the External Affairs Department of the World
Bank. All material is taken directly from published and copyright wire
service stories and newspaper articles.

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