Movement on the IMF

The slow-moving standoff between the United States and Europe regarding the composition of the International Monetary Fund’s board (see here) shows some signs of coming unstuck. Germany has signaled that the EU is moving toward acceptance of thinner representation on the IMF board: We agree in principle that there has to be some sort of ...

By , a professor at Indiana University’s Hamilton Lugar School of Global and International Studies.

The slow-moving standoff between the United States and Europe regarding the composition of the International Monetary Fund's board (see here) shows some signs of coming unstuck. Germany has signaled that the EU is moving toward acceptance of thinner representation on the IMF board:

The slow-moving standoff between the United States and Europe regarding the composition of the International Monetary Fund’s board (see here) shows some signs of coming unstuck. Germany has signaled that the EU is moving toward acceptance of thinner representation on the IMF board:

We agree in principle that there has to be some sort of reshuffle of the executive directors that allows for a better representation of the dynamic, developing nations but we see this in a slightly bigger framework.

That "slightly bigger framework" might include a firm agreement to keep the existing 24-member board and, perhaps, a U.S. willingness to forfeit the effective veto power it now has over major Fund decisions (these require 85 percent of votes, and the U.S. has about a 17 percent voting share). No word yet from Washington on whether that would ever be considered. For the major developing countries, the sight of Washington and Brussels bidding against each other to loosen the Western grip on the institution must be enjoyable.

David Bosco is a professor at Indiana University’s Hamilton Lugar School of Global and International Studies. He is the author of The Poseidon Project: The Struggle to Govern the World’s Oceans. Twitter: @multilateralist

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