China frustrated by delayed reforms to increase its say at IMF

Central bank governor Zhou Xiaochuan said China was "more than frustrated" with the long delay in a 2010 reform package to increase China's say at the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

"[We] are upset and deeply disappointed by the current progress in regard to the reform of the shareholding system in the IMF," China News Service quoted Zhou as saying on Sunday.

Zhou made the remarks on the sidelines of the World Bank-IMF spring meetings and a gathering of G20 finance ministers and central bank chiefs at the IMF's headquarters last week.

Zhou was referring to the IMF's 2010 reform package, which calls for a 6 per cent shift in voting rights from developed economies to emerging ones.

Washington has a de facto veto and the reform has been stalled for five years by the US Congress. Under the present system, the changes require more than 85 per cent of the total voting rights of the IMF's members to pass; the US has 16.42 per cent of those rights.

China and other major emerging economies have long been dissatisfied with the delay in the IMF reform to give them a greater say. They have also been hamstrung by their lack of influence in the institution. Although the BRICS leading emerging market economies account for more than one-fifth of the global economy, together they wield about 11 per cent of the votes at the IMF.