Brazil on Sunday demanded that emerging countries be given a greater role in the IMF and World Bank as part of a major shake-up of global institutions in response to the global financial crisis.
In a statement by its economy ministry given as an international G20 meeting of finance ministers and central bank chiefs wrapped up in Sao Paulo, also called for more to be done to tackle the crisis.
Further steps had to be taken to normalize credit access and capital flows, otherwise perspectives for the economy “would be severely prejudicial.”
“We need new institutions,” Economy Minister Guido Mantega said at a joint media conference at the end of the meeting with representatives from the British and South African finance ministries.
“This is an issue that has not been resolved yet, but the G20 is a strong candidate to coordinate actions,” he said.
He and the statement called the G7 — the group of advanced economies made up of Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the US — “insufficient” to handle the turbulence hitting the world.
The G20, which includes the G7 as well as key emerging economies such as Brazil, India, China, Russia, Indonesia, Turkey and others, should instead be elevated to a head-of-state and government level, the statement said.
The IMF and the World Bank should deepen reforms to give greater say to the top emerging countries, Brazil argued, calling for an end to the system under which their leadership is always divided between the US and Europe.
In terms of the crisis, Brazil called for the creation of an “early warning system” that would raise the alert for subsequent troubles, as well as improved regulations, supervision and transparency.
A reformed IMF could play an important role in a new world order, it said.
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