India, China to get bigger role in World Bank

The World Bank and IMF have announced that they will try to complete reforms in the Bank's voting structure by next year, a move which would give emerging economies like China and India a greater say in the affairs of the financial institutions.

Addressing a press conference after the meeting of the Joint Development Committee (of the two institutions) on Sunday, World Bank president Robert Zoellick said it was widely recognised at the meeting that developing countries should have more influence in how the World Bank is run.

"The committee, therefore, agreed that the work on a second round of reforms to the Bank's voting structure should be accelerated. The aim should be to reach an agreement on these changes by the Spring meeting in 2010," Zoellick said.

He said the current economic crisis is changing the world, so the World Bank must change itself. IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn said the quota change should reflect the reality of the day.