IMF overhaul puts India in top 10

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has approved proposals that will lead to an overhaul of the fund’s quotas and governance and put India among the top 10 members.

The 10 largest members of the fund will now be the US, Japan, the BRICs (Brazil, China, India, Russia), and the four largest European countries (France, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom).

The Executive Board of IMF also endorsed a timeline calling for the quota increase and realignments to take effect by the annual meetings of October 2012, and Executive Board reforms to be implemented no later than the subsequent Executive Board election, scheduled in late 2012.

“This historic agreement is the most fundamental governance overhaul in the fund’s 65-year history and the biggest-ever shift of influence in favour of emerging market and developing countries to recognise their growing role in the global economy,” IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn said after the board’s decision.