Emerging economies call for bigger say at G20

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-03-31 11:01

BEIJING - While the G20 summit is about to convene in London Thursday, BRIC and some other emerging economies insist developing countries should have a bigger say in multilateral financial discussion and relevant policy-making process.

They also say the existing international financial system deserves repairing and related countries should restrain from practising protectionism.

Bigger say

As the global financial crisis unveils defects of the existing international financial system, BRIC, which include Brazil, Russia, India and China, more than ever pointed out a few developed economies simply exercise monopoly in global financial rule making, while developing countries have long been marginalized unfairly.

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For instance, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) bears a voting structure dominated by Europeans and Americans, with the United States alone holding 17 percent voting power, a quota big enough to veto any major notion within the IMF.

Earlier this month, Chinese Financial Minister Xie Xuren called for substantial and overall reforms of the international financial system, and endeavor to a new one featuring fairness, justice, rich inclusion and order.

With a candid tone, Brazilian Finance Minister Guido Mantega suggested emerging economies be given more voting rights and bigger say in policy-making process within international financial institutions.

To make the goal more localized, Mexico announced President Felipe Calderon would join hands with his colleagues from Argentina and Brazil at the G20 summit in boosting Latin America's voice and asking more aid from international financial institutions destined for developing nations.

"The relative power of traditional advanced economies is in decline while the importance of emerging economies grows steadily as they increasingly participate in global production chain," Zhang Bing, a senior researcher with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told Xinhua.

He noted, with a changed global economic scenario, it is high time that emerging economies get more involved in global economic governance.

Stableness and development

With the financial crisis yet to be reined, mankind is facing such big questions as how to stabilize the international financial system and promote global economic recovery and long-term sound development, to which BRIC offer a batch of solutions.

BRIC Finance Ministers issued a joint communique at the G20 financial ministers' meeting held a fortnight ago.

They believed recapitalizing banks, cleaning up their balance sheets and liquidity provisions to stabilize the financial system are a priority.

BRIC is taking measures to promote domestic demand, to step up information sharing by reserve currencies and policy coordination, and to support intensified regulation of various financial operation.

Besides, BRIC also puts forward some profound viewpoints concerning the reforms on the international monetary system and the strengthening of financial regulation.

Chinese Central Bank Governor Zhou Xiaochuan called for a new super sovereign reserve currency to replace national reserve currencies as the backbone of the global monetary system.

Zhou's idea was echoed by Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who pointed out trade between Brazil and Argentina is already settled in local currency, indicating Zhou's proposal has been proved to be realistic.

Similar proposals were also presented by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, who called for the widening of the reserve currency basket.

Medvedev said the existing currency system has not coped with existing challenges.

If parties concerned can reach an agreement on reforming the system, "in the future we could talk about creating a kind of a super currency," he said.

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