BRICS finance chiefs and central bank governors on Friday reiterated calls for urgent reform of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank to give emerging and developing economies a greater say in the two institutions.
The Bretton Woods institutions, created in the aftermath of World War II, should better reflect shifts in the global economy, they said in a joint statement, calling for increased IMF quota and voting shares for emerging and developing countries. They also backed greater representation of those economies in the leadership of the IMF and World Bank.
“We reiterate the urgent need to reform the Bretton Woods Institutions to make them more agile, effective, credible, inclusive, fit for purpose, unbiased, accountable, and representative,” the finance chiefs and governors said in the statement.
The call is not new. BRICS has long pushed for developing nations to have greater influence in global financial institutions, arguing that their representation should reflect their growing weight in the world economy.
The officials also took aim at rising protectionism, expressing “serious concerns” over unilateral tariffs and other trade and financial measures that they said distort commerce, are inconsistent with World Trade Organization rules and weigh most heavily on developing economies. They also cited geopolitical tensions, trade fragmentation, policy uncertainty, debt and inflation pressures among risks to the global outlook.
On payments, BRICS agreed to continue exploring ways to make cross-border transactions between members faster and cheaper, including greater use of local currencies for trade and investment.
Bloomberg reported this week that India is pushing BRICS nations to expand the use of central bank-backed digital currencies for cross-border payments, while stopping short of supporting a unified payments network that could be seen as a challenge to the dollar.
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