At the urging of the US, China will bulk a little-a very little-larger in the IMF

摘要

When the International Monetary Fund on September 18~(th) awarded more voting power to China, Mexico, Turkey and South Korea, it took a largely symbolic step. The shift does reflect the growing economic influence of these countries. But control of the Washington-based fund remains solidly in the hands of the US and Europe, which contribute the largest share of its funding. The next phase of an IMF reform plan, which aims to increase the dedication of underrepresented and poorer nations to the aims of the fund, calls for further adjustment of the balance of power over a two-year period. But fund officials were swift to portray the full-membership vote taken in Singapore as refuting a widely held view that the fund exists to rescue larger economies and protect major international banks at the expense of smaller governments. These have complained that IMF help frequently obliges them to cut subsidies and social services, thus generating unemployment in their countries.