It's possible for developing states' officials to hold key IMF posts

Special Report:Global Financial Crisis

by Wei Jing

WASHINGTON, April 28 (Xinhua) -- Having officials from developing countries hold key posts in the International Monetary Fund (IMF) "would happen in the future," said IMF's Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn here on Tuesday.

During an interview with Xinhua, Strauss-Kahn characterized the traditional power-sharing structure at the World Bank and the IMF, the world's two leading financial agencies, as "the old world," where by the entities' by-laws, the World Bank president has to bean American citizen and the managing director of the IMF has to be a European.

Strauss-Kahn said the original arrangement under the Bretton Woods System that created the IMF was "a little bit outdated" right now, as people are living in a "new world."

As the global financial crisis spreads to more countries, many governments are requesting the IMF to strengthen its monitoring and surveillance functions to keep the world's major financial firms in check, in order to prevent similar crisis from happening again.

The IMF chief said although it is not up to the IMF to make new financial regulations for its member countries, the agency will exercise strong supervision once such regulations are in place.

"If an official from an emerging market country takes the lead of such a task within the IMF, the position and its occupier will undoubtedly attract worldwide attention," said Strauss-Kahn.

Strauss-Kahn's remarks echo emerging economies' calls for increasing their decision-*** power and influence within the organization.

The IMF chief said in an earlier interview with Chinese reporters that there are many ways to increase developing countries' say in the IMF, in addition to the augmentation of fund quota and voting rights among member states.

Strauss-Kahn also talked about the new "debt bonds" to be discussed and released by the IMF soon. The new type of bonds will give countries with large foreign reserves such as China a good investment opportunity, he said, as the IMF bonds will be "totally secure" and "have better returns than U.S. Treasury bonds."