Iran’s voting power in the International Monetary Fund has increased from 0.62% to (0.75%), following the acceptance of proposals for quota reforms in the IMF.
The change comes after a 138% surge in Iran’s quota in IMF, which saw an increase from 1,497.2 SDRs to 3,567.1 SDRs, Central Bank of Iran’s website reported on Friday. The ‘special drawing rights’ is the IMF’s unit of accounts.
Quotas are based on a weighted average of GDP, openness, economic variability and international reserves. They are expressed in a value known as the SDRs, an international reserve asset determined by the value of the US dollar, euro, Japanese yen and pound sterling. The United States currently has the largest quota, with SDR 42.1 billion, or approximately $59 billion.
Iran with 38 other countries had their voting power increased by more than 10%, according to the CBI.
The IMF’s Quota and Governance Reform was accepted on Dec. 15, 2010. The decision became effective as of Jan. 26, 2016, after the required conditions were met.
As part of the reforms, the IMF Executive Board in 2010 had proposed the completion of the 14th General Review of Quotas with the doubling of quotas and realignment of share among members. This reform package has delivered a 100% increase in quotas and a major realignment of quota shares, thereby improving the representation of emerging and developing economies in the institutions, according to the IMF.
This latest reform will boost the quotas for all 188 members, doubling the overall quota resources for the IMF. Much of these added resources will come from extra funding that many member countries contributed to the IMF after the global financial crisis of 2008, and will boost the financial power of the institution to respond in times of financial crisis.
