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A meeting was held between the Finance Ministers of Brazil, Russia, India and China, which form the BRIC nations. The meet was organized to discuss problems that need to be tackled by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund in this scenario of global economic crisis. BRIC nations agreed on various crucial issues concerning the shift of voting rights in quota system for the benefit of the emerging markets and developing countries (EMDCs).
As implied in an official statement, the meeting of the BRIC nations, which was hosted by Indian Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee in the context of the yearly meets of the World Bank and the IMF in Istanbul, marked the presence of Guido Mantega, the Brazilian Finance Minister; Aleksey Kudrin, Russian Finance Minister; and Yong Li, China’s Vice Minister of Finance.
Governors of the central banks and finance ministers of different nations are in Istanbul to take part in the yearly meetings of the 2 institutions.
The ministers of various nations discussed many issues that the institutions need to deal with and shared common views on several fronts.
On the issues relating to the IMF, the ministers decided to target a significant 7% shift in Quota Shares for the benefit of the EMDCs, and also talked about the ‘New Arrangement to Borrow’ (NAB).
As per the World Bank is concerned, the BRIC countries talked about the ways and channels to strengthen the voice and role of growing nations and decided to target for a shift of 6% for parity.
They agreed that the capital for the World Bank and its private lending subdivision known as the International Finance Corporation (IFC) needs to be raised.
It was noted that these kind of meetings held between BRIC nations at Finance Ministry and Deputy or Executive Directorial level have become important, as they provide them with a platform to share views and reach consensus.
Timothy Geithner, United States Treasury Secretary, also attended this meet at Istanbul. He was also present at the meeting of the BRIC Finance Ministers in London that was organized ahead of the G-20 Summit in the month of April this year.
Mr. Geithner appreciated the constructive efforts put in by the BRIC nations to find out solutions to the current global problems. The Finance Ministers enlightened him on their views on the issues of the governance of the IMF and the World Bank.
Mr. Mukherjee received assistance, among others, from Ashok Chawla, the Finance Secretary; Arvind Virmani, the Chief Economic Adviser; Adarsh Kishore, the Executive Director with IMF; and Pulok Chatterjee, the Executive Director with World Bank. The Hindu
October 4, 2009
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