G-24 demands greater say in Fund, Bank

Ulhas Joglekar ulhasj at bom4.vsnl.net.in
Tue Apr 18 05:11:47 PDT 2000


Monday 17 April 2000

G-24 demands greater say in Fund, Bank WASHINGTON: Developing countries have demanded a change in the long-standing tradition by which the heads of the IMF and the World Bank come from Europe and US and insisted that candidates should be chosen from any part of the world. Finance ministers from the Group of 24, representing the developing countries, in a statement here on Saturday sought establishment of a process which is "transparent, involves the entire membership through executive boards and allows selection of the best candidate from any part of the world". Describing the trade policies of industrial countries as "a major trade barrier", the communique ahead of meetings here on Sunday and Monday of IMF and the World Bank, asked the developed countries to lower export barriers from developing countries to help sustain global trade and enhance poverty reduction efforts, Stating that while developing countries had liberalised their external trade, chairman German Suarez said industrial countries continue to place barriers in textiles and foodstuffs by subsidising local production where developing countries have a comparative advantage. Developing countries must become more active partners in the next round of multilateral negotiations to obtain substantial benefits from full market access and the reduction of trade barriers, the communique issued ahead of meetings said. The demand was supported by US treasury secretry Lawrence Summers, who made a similar statement before the Group of Seven industrial ministers. The G-24 noted that the debt initiative to help the highly indebted poor countries shifted a disproportionate burden of the cost of the initiative to other developing countries, including other poor nations. It opposed proposals by a US Congressional commission to limit IMF credit by shortening maturities and demanded that international codes, standards and best practices be made voluntary until countries not ready to adopt them now get technical assistance to acquire competence to implement them. The ministers also demanded that policies which have implications for the developing countries should be discussed and approved in the World Bank and IMF and not in restricted membership institutions like the G-7. They said the World Bank and IMF must continue to provide effective support in the research on trade barriers to assist developing countries to increase their capacity to identify and defend their interests. The group supported the ongoing efforts by the international task force on commodity risk management in developing countries, led by the World Bank, to develop ways to hedge against severe fluctuations in commodity prices. (PTI) For reprint rights: Times Syndication Service
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