BRICS calls for bigger emerging-market voice in IMF, World Bank; criticises unilateral tariffs
BRICS finance ministers and central bank governors, in a joint statement issued after meeting in Mumbai on 11 September 2026, called for greater representation of emerging-market and developing economies in the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank.
The statement urged the IMF to implement previously agreed quota increases and pursue "meaningful quota realignment" through the ongoing 17th General Review of Quotas.
It called for merit-based selection of leadership at international financial institutions, with greater regional diversity and representation from developing economies.
The statement criticised unilateral trade and finance-related measures as inconsistent with multilateral cooperation, and reaffirmed support for strengthened multilateralism amid rising geopolitical fragmentation.
IMF Quota System and the 16th vs 17th General Review of Quotas
An IMF member's "quota" — a subscription based on a formula weighing economic size — determines its financial contribution, its voting power at the Fund, and its access to Fund resources. Quotas are revisited periodically through General Reviews, which BRICS members want used to shift voting weight toward emerging economies rather than simply enlarging the Fund's total resources.
Key Details
- Quota formula: CQS = (0.50 × GDP + 0.30 × Openness + 0.15 × Variability + 0.05 × Reserves) × compression factor (0.95); GDP is blended 60% at market exchange rates and 40% at purchasing-power-parity (PPP) rates.
- The 16th General Review of Quotas concluded in December 2023: it approved a 50% equi-proportional increase in all members' quotas but left relative voting shares among members unchanged — i.e., it grew the pie without changing anyone's slice.
- The 17th General Review of Quotas is the review process BRICS is now pushing to use for actual "realignment" — shifting quota shares toward under-represented emerging and developing economies.
- The IMF Executive Board — 24 Executive Directors traditionally, expanded to 25 in November 2024 with a new, third chair dedicated to Sub-Saharan Africa — was the most recent concrete governance change toward the "regional diversity" BRICS is now asking be extended to leadership selection generally.
BRICS' demand for "meaningful quota realignment" targets exactly what the 2023 review avoided — an actual shift in voting shares — while its call for regional diversity in leadership echoes the 2024 Sub-Saharan Africa chair expansion as a template.
World Bank Governance: IBRD/IDA Shareholding and the Informal Leadership Convention
The World Bank Group, like the IMF, was created at the 1944 Bretton Woods Conference and allocates voting power mainly through shareholding (capital subscriptions) rather than one-country-one-vote. Its main lending arms differ in mandate: the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD, 1944) lends to middle-income and creditworthy low-income countries at near-market terms, while the International Development Association (IDA, 1960) provides concessional loans and grants to the poorest countries, replenished by donors every three years.
Key Details
- IBRD/IFC voting combines share votes (one per capital share held) with "basic votes" — equal votes for every member, calibrated to equal roughly 5.55% of total voting power, a built-in (if small) equalising mechanism.
- The 2018 IBRD/IFC General Capital Increase raised China's IBRD shareholding from 4.68% to 6.01%, while the United States' share dipped only marginally, from 16.89% to 16.77% — the US and EU members retain an effective veto over major IBRD decisions.
- By long-standing (unwritten) convention, the World Bank President has always been a US nominee and the IMF Managing Director has always been European — a practice BRICS' call for "merit-based" selection implicitly challenges.
BRICS' call for a "bigger voice" at the World Bank targets both this shareholding-weighted voting structure — where a single 2018 capital increase moved China's share by little more than one percentage point — and the informal nationality convention governing the Bank's and Fund's top leadership posts.
Special Drawing Rights (SDR) and the 85% Supermajority Veto
The SDR is the IMF's own international reserve asset, allocated to members in proportion to their IMF quotas; it is not a currency but a claim members can exchange for freely usable currencies. Its value is set daily against a basket of currencies, reviewed every five years.
Key Details
- Current SDR basket currencies: US Dollar, Euro, Chinese Renminbi (added in the 2016 review, effective 2016), Japanese Yen, and British Pound.
- Major IMF decisions — including quota changes and new SDR allocations — require an 85% supermajority of total voting power; because the United States alone holds roughly 17% of voting power, it retains an effective unilateral veto over such changes.
- Because SDR allocations follow quota shares, any "quota realignment" BRICS seeks would also proportionately increase emerging economies' share of future SDR allocations.
The 85% voting threshold explains why BRICS frames quota/governance reform as requiring sustained, patient multilateral pressure rather than a vote the bloc could win on its own — its combined IMF quota share falls well short of the roughly 15% needed to block, let alone the 85% needed to pass, a change.
- Joint statement issued after the BRICS finance ministers' and central bank governors' meeting in Mumbai, 11 September 2026.
- 16th General Review of Quotas (concluded December 2023): 50% equi-proportional quota increase; no share realignment.
- IMF Executive Board: 24 Executive Directors historically; expanded to 25 in November 2024 with a dedicated Sub-Saharan Africa chair.
- IMF decisions on quotas/SDR allocations require an 85% supermajority; the US holds about 17% of voting power, giving it an effective veto.
- 2018 IBRD/IFC capital increase: China's IBRD shareholding rose from 4.68% to 6.01%; US shareholding eased marginally from 16.89% to 16.77%.
- SDR basket (since the 2016 review): US Dollar, Euro, Chinese Renminbi, Japanese Yen, British Pound.