China gets more say at IMF

The International Monetary Fund has agreed to give China, and a handful of other developing nations, more voting rights. The vote Monday by the 184 member nations shows recognition that voting shares may not reflect current world conditions, the Wall Street Journal reported, and may point to fears that the organization will not be able to convince borrowers to take on difficult economic overhauls. The move to give China, South Korea, Mexico and Turkey more voting rights was supported by 90.6% of available votes, out of 85% required for major shifts. Although nominal, the increases are a first step in a two-year effort to redistribute votes among poor African nations and countries with growing shares of the world economy. China's share of votes will increase to 3.7%. The US has 17%.