World Bank
April 25, 2010
Developing countries will get a greater say in how global aid is distributed through the World Bank after the international lending institution agreed to give them more voting rights. It also agreed to increase the capital available for loans, subsidies and other forms of aid.
The body's development committee met in Washington on Sunday.
"The new formula will better reflect the weight of the developing and transition countries in the global economy, while protecting the voice of the smallest and poorest countries," US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said in a statement.
The United States and Japan agreed to decrease their own share of voting rights so that emerging economies could have more say. The 3.3 percent shift means that developing nations now have just over 47 percent of the total votes, and industrial powers have just below 53 percent.
In particular, China's vote share will increase from 2.77 percent to 4.42 percent, making it the bank's third most influential member after the US and Japan, and pushing Germany into fourth place.
China's share of votes and its proportion of contribution will rise because it is now a bigger player in the world economy, World Bank President Robert Zoellick told reporters Sunday.
Some countries lose out
But other developing countries said the changes did not go far enough.
The bank had already agreed in October to shift voting shares by at least 3 percent in favor of developing countries. Brazilian Finance Minister Guido Mantega said "the 3 percent floor practically became a ceiling during our negotiations."
South Africa also expressed displeasure.
"We are disappointed that the process has resulted in dilution of the voting power of some sub-Saharan African countries, in spite of the collective acknowledgement of the need to protect them," said South African Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan.
"We consider the progress made to date as a starting point for more robust outcomes in future," he added.
The World Bank's 186 members also agreed to the first increase in capital in over 20 years, approving a $5.1 billion (3.8 billion euros) increase to help fund more than $100 billion in loan, subsidy and investment commitments. Geithner said the US would contribute $1.1 billion of that.
"Today was a very good day for multilateralism," Zoellick said.
svs/AFP/dpa/AP
Editor: Kyle James