U.S. hopes to finalize IMF vote reforms soon: U.S. official

MOSCOW (Reuters) - The Obama administration is hoping to move ahead shortly with legislation to finalize IMF voting reforms agreed in 2010, which will make China the third-largest voting member in the global financial institution, a senior U.S. official said on Saturday.

The official, speaking at the end of a Group of 20 meeting of finance ministers in Moscow, said the administration was actively discussing legislation with relevant members of Congress.

The 2010 package cannot be finalized until it gets the go-ahead from the United States, which has effective veto power over the historic deal that was meant to have been approved by all IMF member countries in October last year, but was stalled by the U.S. presidential election.

It is part of a broader plan by the IMF to give emerging market powers greater voting clout in the organization.

China, Brazil and other large emerging market economies have long contended that the IMF's voting set-up unfairly benefits Europe and the United States, which dominated the IMF since its founding after World War Two.

(Reporting By Lesley Wroughton, editing by Mike Peacock)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/u-hopes-finalize-imf-vote-reforms-soon-u-171040639.html

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