China on Monday offered $43 billion to the IMF's crisis-fighting reserves, joining other major emerging markets in pledging new funds to shore up the global financial system while demanding reforms to give the developing world more clout at the IMF.
China's contribution, confirmed by a Group of 20 official, follows Russia's pledge of $10 billion and is in line with a promise to supply the International Monetary Fund with extra firepower to help cope with the fallout from Europe's debt crisis.
The leaders of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, meeting before a Group of 20 summit in Mexico, said they "agreed to enhance their own contributions to the IMF."
They sought to tie the funds to long-delayed reforms that would give the developing world more say at the Washington-based Fund.
"These new contributions are being made in anticipation that all the reforms agreed upon in 2010 will be fully implemented in a timely manner, including a comprehensive reform of voting power and reform of quota shares," the BRICS leaders said in a joint statement.
G20 finance ministers agreed in April to give the IMF $430 billion in new resources, but the breakdown of contributions has not been formally announced. The bulk of the extra IMF money will come from Europe, while the United States, which would need approval from a deeply split Congress, is not contributing.
In their public remarks in Los Cabos, Chinese officials declined to discuss sums and stressed the need to implement IMF quota reforms agreed in 2010.
The five BRICS nations represent 43% of the world's population and about 18% of global economic output. They have about $4 trillion in combined reserves, with the lion's share held by export powerhouse China.
Emerging economies have long demanded more say at institutions like the IMF to reflect their growing clout. Their frustrations have grown with the likely delay in implementing the 2010 deal that would boost their voting power and make China the third-largest voting member of the IMF.
