Washington: India exessed its disappointment over the lack of support to increase the quota structure of the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
IMF quotas, which are the primary source of IMF funds, determine voting shares. Quotas are supposed to be reviewed every five years although these reviews can be delayed.
India views "the lack of adequate support for a quota increase under the 15th GRQ (General Review of Quotas) as somewhat disappointing", Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said.
"We, however, consider this as a temporary setback. We hope that the discussions in the next (16th) Round of the GRQ would achieve success in terms of quota increase to take care of the Fund's resource adequacy," she said.
The quotas are distributed according to a four pronged formula that considers a member country's GDP, its economic openness, its "economic variability" and international reserves.
India's quota is 2.76% and China's is 6.41%, while the US' quota is 17.46%, which translates to a vote share of 16.52%, giving it a unique veto power over crucial decisions at the IMF, many of which require a super majority of 85%.
The quota review, Sitharaman said, should also address the long-pending issue of under-representation of the Emerging Market and Developing Economies (EMDEs) and the dynamic economies in the IMF's quota shareholding.
"The representation of member countries in the IMF should be in line with the changing economic realities for this institution to continue staying relevant," she said.
Quota increases under the 16th round and also in the future rounds should be seen as an opportunity to realign quota shares in favour of EMDEs to allow them a more meaningful role in the governance of this Institution, the finance minister said.
