Oxfam reaction: IMF governance reform deal

The International Monetary Fund has announced that its Executive Board has approved a package of governance reforms intended to give emerging economies a bigger say in the institution.

Oxfam spokesperson Pamela Gomez said: “While this represents some progress, it isn’t sufficient. The protection of the poorest countries’ quotas in the agreement was welcome. But European countries are vastly over-represented in terms of quota at the Fund, and they should have contributed more towards the shift.”

Gomez said: “The unwillingness of European governments to reduce their overwhelming presence on the IMF Board is unacceptable. Europe’s refusal to relinquish dominance of the IMF board makes it clear that they’ll have to be dragged kicking and screaming every inch of the way into the 21 st Century.”

Oxfam welcomed the Board’s decision to do away with appointed board seats that benefit the US, UK, France and Germany, China and Saudi Arabia. All IMF board seats will now be elected. Gomez said: “European governments should use this rule change to step forward with an offer to speed up the consolidation of their board seats.”

Note to editors:

Those involved in the negotiations told Oxfam that developing countries gained a 2.8 percent quota share increase, but this was largely due to shifting shares between emerging market countries.