Iran Calls for Changing the Rules of the Game at the International Monetary Fund

Iran's Central Bank representative called for reform of quotas and a greater role for developing countries in global financial institutions.

The representative of the Central Bank of Iran called for the reform of quotas and increasing the role of developing countries in global financial institutions.

According to the report of Ambassador Arjan, Vahid Majed, Deputy Director of Monetary Policy of the Central Bank of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the representative of the country at the G-24 Deputies Meeting, which was held on the sidelines of the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank Group in Bangkok, the capital of Thailand. The World Bank and the fulfillment of international commitments provided climate finance.

These proposals were made with the aim of strengthening fair and inclusive approaches in global economic governance, enhancing the status and power of representation of emerging and developing economies, and emphasizing international responsibilities towards the economic challenges of these countries.

Referring to the importance of the role of Group 24 in coordinating the views of developing countries, the representative of Iran presented his suggestions in the form of specific amendments to paragraphs 1, 5, 7 and 9 of the draft statement.

Emphasis on ending violence and coercion and reducing the economic consequences of conflicts

In the first axis of his proposal, the representative of Iran, referring to the human, economic and financial consequences of international conflicts, suggested that in the first paragraph of the statement, in addition to the necessity of ending violence, the issue of "forced actions" should also be clearly taken into consideration.

Based on this proposal, the Group of 24 will call for coordinated international efforts to end violence and coercion, support the reduction of tensions and reduce the economic and financial consequences of conflicts, including through reconstruction. The inclusion of this phrase will complete the conceptual scope of the statement and will cause more explicit attention to the various dimensions of pressures and challenges affecting the economies of countries.

Opposition to the inclusion of voluntary financial aid in the quota formula of the International Monetary Fund

In the second axis, the representative of Iran, focusing on the 17th General Review of Quotas of the International Monetary Fund, emphasized the need to reach a timely consensus on the new formula for calculating quotas and provide the basis for a meaningful readjustment of the quota of the member countries.

"The main issue in our opinion is that voluntary financial contributions should not be included in the new formula for calculating quotas," said the Central Bank's monetary policy deputy.

This proposal refers to one of the fundamental issues of reforming the governance of the International Monetary Fund, that is, how to determine the quota of countries and its consequences for the position and representation of members in the decision-making structure of this institution. In this context, the representative of Iran requested that the revision of the quota formula lead to the strengthening of meaningful reforms and the preservation of the position of emerging and developing economies, and that the opposition to the inclusion of voluntary financial aid in the quota formula should be clearly reflected in the text of the statement.

Emphasis on reforming the World Bank's shareholding structure and increasing the role of developing countries

The third axis of discussion by the representative of Iran was dedicated to the reform of the shareholding system and governance of the World Bank Group.

Referring to the 2025 shareholding review and the need to determine the assignment of the unallocated shares of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) and the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the representative of Iran called for attention to the next steps in the shareholding structure of these two institutions. He also emphasized the importance of the 2030 shareholder review as an opportunity to examine specific options for correcting the imbalance in the share of countries, increasing the capital base of the World Bank Group, and strengthening the legitimacy and good governance of this multilateral institution.

In explaining this position, the representative of Iran emphasized that the goal of reforming the shareholding system should be to eliminate existing imbalances, strengthen the capital capacity of the World Bank Group, and promote the effective participation of developing countries in the governance and decision-making structure of this institution. This proposal emphasizes the necessity of simultaneously paying attention to increasing the financial capacity of the World Bank Group and improving fairness and balance in the representative structure of the member countries.

Request for full and timely implementation of climate financing commitments

The fourth axis of the proposal of the representative of Iran was dedicated to climate financing and the necessity of adhering to international obligations towards developing countries. Referring to the abandonment of the 45% "climate co-benefits" goal of the World Bank Group, as well as the withdrawal or reduction of some financial aid commitments to multilateral climate funds, the representative of Iran emphasized the need to maintain and strengthen international climate financing commitments. In this context, he demanded that in the text of the statement of the Group of 24, the full and timely realization of the goal of annual climate financing of at least 300 billion dollars for developing countries by 2035, according to the agreement of the 29th Conference of the Members of the United Nations Climate Change Convention (COP29), with the pioneering of developed member countries, should be emphasized.

The representative of Iran pointed out that the fulfillment of climate financing obligations is of fundamental importance from the perspective of providing reliable and predictable financial resources for developing countries, and the explicit reflection of this issue in the statement of the Group of 24 can help strengthen the common message of the member countries in this regard.

Iran's active participation in shaping the common positions of developing countries

The set of proposals of the representative of Iran in the meeting of the deputies of the Group of 24 includes four areas related to justice and international economic cooperation: the necessity of reducing the economic effects of conflicts and coercion, reforming the mechanism of determining quotas and representation in the International Monetary Fund, promoting justice and efficiency in the shareholding structure of the World Bank Group, and the effective implementation of international climate financing commitments.

The Central Bank's monetary policy deputy asked to review and include the four proposals in the process of revising the draft statement and announced the readiness of the Iranian delegation to provide the detailed text of the proposals in writing.

These proposals also emphasized the importance of gradually and effectively reforming the structure of international financial governance, strengthening the role of developing countries in global economic decisions, and the necessity of international institutions responding to the financial and development needs of member countries.

The meeting of the deputies of the 24th group was held in the framework of the preparation and review of the text of the joint statement of this group before the meeting of the ministers of finance and governors of central banks. The proposals presented by the representative of Iran have been put forward for review in the process of finalizing the text of the statement, and their final reflection will be subject to the results of the consultations and the agreement of the member states.