Economists call for IMF reforms

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) should be reformed to make it more representative of its membership, a group of leading economists said yesterday.

In an open letter to the IMF's board of governors, ahead of the global lender's annual meeting with the World Bank on 8 and 9 October, 13 influential economists said that the fund was being slow to introduce governance reforms.

The letter, which praised the flexibility shown in helping struggling economies during last year's recession, comes amid a power struggle at the IMF.

With several developing nations set to overtake more established economies in Europe, reformers have called for a break in the traditional governance of the IMF, which to date has been dominated by Western Europe and the United States.