By RIA Novosti
Moscow : Russia’s finance minister and first deputy prime minister, Alexei Kudrin, will visit Washington on April 10-13 for talks on IMF quota reform and sovereign wealth funds, a delegation source said on Monday.
Kudrin will meet with his American and Italian counterparts and International Monetary Fund and World Bank chiefs as part of the financial organizations’ joint annual Spring Meetings in Washington on April 12-13.
Kudrin is to discuss with the U.S. the reform of IMF members’ quotas – which determine their voting power and access to IMF financing – and sovereign wealth funds, the assets held by governments in another country’s currency, the official said.
European Union finance ministers and central bank governors have pledged support for a reform of the IMF quota system, designed to give emerging economies a greater clout in the organization’s management decisions.
Sovereign funds will also be central at Kudrin’s talks with the Italians. The IMF, backed by the United States and Europe, is working on a voluntary code of “best practices” covering the structure, investment, and disclosure of information on sovereign wealth funds.
The agenda of Kudrin’s bilateral meetings with the IMF and WB chiefs has not been coordinated so far, the Russian official said.
Finance ministers and central bankers of G7 countries will also hold their sessions on the sideline of the Spring Meetings.