The shift of voting powers and capital increase are expected to be the highlights of the spring meetings of International Monetary Fund and World Bank member countries scheduled April 24-25 in Washington, Reuters says.
Finance leaders who will attend the meeting will decide how voting powers within the World Bank will be shifted to give emerging economies a larger say in bank decisions. This shifting of powers is expected to generate up to USD1 billion worth of new capital, but it is a thorny issue because several countries would have to give way for developing countries, Reuters notes.
The financial leaders are also expected to discuss a proposal to increase the World Bank’s capital by USD3.5 billion. Plans for this increase, which will be the first in more than 20 years, are coming together, World Bank President Robert Zoellick said, according to Reuters.
