Amidst the hype over India getting a higher share in the quotas and voting rights in the International Monetary Fund (“India’s IMF quota set to rise”, October 24) two points have been generally missed by observers. One, though the share of Europe has come down, that of the US has not. The latter continues to have 17.67 per cent of the total quotas. Since any major reform of the Articles of Agreement of the IMF needs an 85 per cent majority, the US can continue to stall reforms that are not in its interests, as happened in the past. The only way to break the US stranglehold is to reduce the required majority to 66.66 per cent. But it can also be sabotaged under the existing dispensation. Two, in India’s case, until the first oil crisis, the country had a permanent seat on IMF’s executive board. After the crisis, Saudi Arabia got that seat. Even after the increase in quotas, India needs to be elected to the board from the constituency that includes Bangladesh, Bhutan and Sri Lanka besides itself.
A Seshan, Mumbai
