SINGAPORE: The 184 members of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Sunday began voting on its "biggest reforms in 60 years" since inception. The voting, which would conclude on Monday, was taking place after India mobilised the support of Brazil, Argentina, and Egypt in favour of the reform package being "kept in abeyance."

IMF Managing Director Rodrigo de Rato said at a press conference in Singapore, where the Fund's Board would meet on September 19 and 20, that "there is [indeed] a consensus on some of the measures that are being voted [on] right now."

International Monetary and Financial Committee (IMFC) Chairman Gordon Brown said the panel, which met earlier in the day with India too participating, issued "a unanimous statement" backing the reforms as piloted by Mr. de Rato.

Addressing the IMFC, Finance Minister P. Chidambaram proposed a new reform formula that could be linked to the gross domestic products of individual states as viewed under the prism of purchasing power parity.

Without mentioning India's initiative though, Mr. de Rato told the media that he did not think there was any alternative to the reform measures that were now put to the ballot to benefit emerging economies and low-income countries.

Hinting at the size of support that India and its campaign associates such as Argentina, Brazil, and Egypt might be able to mobilise in the ballot, Mr. de Rato said: "In any democratic institution, you have more votes or less votes. It depends. It is just a fact of reality."

The remark has been interpreted by someobservers as a hint that India has almost lost the battle at this stage itself. IMF sources told The Hindu that the United States, with the largest chunk of voting rights, "strongly supports" Mr. de Rato's reform plan.

Mr. de Rato said the "reservations" expressed by some countries "will be part of the discussions that we will start, pending on the [outcome of the] vote tomorrow." He underscored that "we would try to reach the maximum consensus possible" in due course.

On China, widely reckoned to be the biggest beneficiary of his plan, he discounted speculation that Beijing would now be "subject to more pressure" from the IMF. But "China, as any member-country of the IMF, is subject to surveillance."

Under Mr. de Rato's formula, India would be excluded, despite its status as an emerging economy, from the proposed first-stage enhancement of members' quotas. China, a major "emerging economy," is included. India tends to see its own exclusion as a qualitative issue that could have a long-term impact on the voting rights and weighted credentials of emerging economies among the IMF members.

Mr. Chidambaram said: "We believe that the starting point of reforms is a new quota formula as a central ingredient, realigning country quotas consistent with the formula, and an increase in basic votes. Given the volatility of market exchange rates, the formula should have GDP (Gross Domestic Product) on PPP basis as the dominant variable. ... Currently, many IMF documents and analyses use GDP on PPP basis, and there is nothing startling in this suggestion." "[The] need of the hour is to evolve a new, simple, transparent, and linear quota formula."

He said: "The `openness' variable in the calculation of quotas needs a close scrutiny in the context of countries having a common currency." India's proposal for "comprehensive reforms" would alone "result in adequate, equitable, and appropriate representation for developing countries" on the IMF Board. Such a broader representation would, in turn, "enhance the acceptability, ownership, and effectiveness of IMF's programmes and policies."

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