Wrangling over voting power overshadows IMF talks

[Omaha Steve]

Wrangling over voting power overshadows IMF talks

Sunday September 17, 1:57 AM EDT

By Alan Wheatley, China Economics Editor

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Squabbling over voting clout soured the International Monetary Fund's annual meeting on Sunday as countries lined up to find fault with a plan crafted to reflect a shifting balance of power in the world economy.

The proposal, which IMF chief Rodrigo Rato says would usher in the most significant change at the fund in a generation, is almost sure to be approved when votes from the IMF's 184 member nations are tallied on Monday.

But the blueprint has exposed deep fault lines at an agency struggling to redefine its role in a world where fewer countries are turning to it for emergency loans and big countries are more frequently ignoring its policy advice.

The plan will immediately boost the IMF votes, or "quotas," of four countries -- China, South Korea, Mexico and Turkey -- to be followed by a second stage of broader reforms to recognize the growing weight of emerging nations.

FULL story at link above.

[Moderator]

1. Link didn't get posted

[Omaha Steve]

2. OOPS, here it is

http://money.excite.com/ht/nw/bus/20060917/hle_bus-sp134840.html

Just waking up. :-)