The G20 Proposal on IMF Governance: Is there Progress?

The G20 summits in 2009 have proposed major changes in governance of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Most important seems to be the acknowledgment that the IMF in its current form lacks legitimacy and ownership. Accordingly, the G20 suggests a reallocation of voting shares to emerging and developing countries, an antedated reform of the quota system, a delinking of the managing director's election from regional origin and support for the Singapore quota and voice reform of 2006. Unfortunately, these reform decisions remain in part imprecise, they leave crucial issues untouched and they are not implemented, not even by several G20 countries themselves. So the intended reform takes the right direction but it must be implemented soon before any progress can be stated.