EU urges reform of the IMF

According to EuropeanVoice.com, European leaders have agreed that the International Monetary Fund should be reformed to ensure that the institution is better able to anticipate future financial crises. Among other things, they agreed that developing countries should have a greater say in IMF decision making and that the Financial Stability Forum should be reformed and that its work should be better coordinated with the work of the IMF. While this is unequivocally positive, closer reading reveals the differences between member countries' positions. There are areas of agreement but there are other areas where the member countries agree to disagree. As a result, this European initiative will remain largely a French initiative and will be presented as such at the world financial summit in Washington on November 15 - which undoubtedly will reduce its effectiveness. If we combine this with the news that the President-elect will most likely not attend the summit, we come to the conclusion that no major policy decisions can be expected from this summit. Most likely any far-reaching reforms of the world financial system will have to wait until the new president takes office.