Korea Gains Bigger Say in World Bank

By Kim Jae-kyoung

Staff Reporter

South Korea is expected to have a louder voice in the World Bank as its ranking in voting rights has climbed to 16th from 22nd.

The Ministry of Strategy and Finance said Monday that the country's voting rights in the World Bank has been raised to 1.57 percent from 0.99 percent as part of the organization's "voice reform."

At the (World Bank's) Development Committee on Sunday, member countries endorsed the reform to increase the voting power of developing and transitioning countries at the organization by 3.13 percent, bringing it to 47.19 percent.

China's quota has also been raised to 4.42 percent from 2.77 percent, while Japan and Germany saw their voting power fall to 6.84 percent and 4 percent, respectively, from 7.62 percent and 4.35 percent. The voting right for the U.S., the largest stakeholder, remained unchanged at 15.85 percent.

The increase came as a result of the country's seamless efforts to broaden its influence in the international community, and it is likely to pave the way for the government to raise its quota at the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

"The government has made efforts to increase the nation's voting right to the level commensurate with its economic power. With the increase, we will have a greater input at the World Bank," said a finance ministry official. "At the same time, the outcome is likely to provide a boost for the country's move to further raise its quota at the IMF," he added. South Korea's IMF quota was raised to 1.413 percent in 2008.

Voting rights reform has been a major issue on the agenda at global economic and financial meetings over the past few years. Emerging economies, including Korea and China, have demanded the reallocation of quotas in the IMF and the World Bank.

For the voting rights transfer, there will be a selective capital increase of $27.8 billion with paid-in capital of $1.6 billion, which requires Korea to contribute $900 million.

The nation's voting rights at the International Finance Corporation (IFC) was also raised to 1.06 percent from 0.67 percent, as 6.07 percent of the IFC voting power was taken away from advanced economies and reallocated among developing and transitioning ones.

The World Bank Group consists of several organizations, including the World Bank and IFC.

The World Bank is composed of IBRD and the International Development Association, and has 186 member countries.