World Bank Raises India’s Shareholder Status

April 27, 2010 Posted by India Briefing Reading Time: < 1 minute

Apr. 27 – The World Bank Group increased India’s shareholder status from 2.77 percent to 2.91 percent on Sunday, making it the seventh largest shareholder in the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD).

The shift in voting power reflects the South Asian nation’s growing clout and the bank’s decision to redistribute shareholdings in favor of developing economies; allotting them 47.19 percent of total votes while advanced economies get 52.81 percent of voting power.

India now has more voting power in the organization compared to Russia, Canada, Australia, Italy and Saudi Arabia. The biggest rise in voting power was given to China, changing from 2.77 percent to 4.42 percent.

“The Bank also agreed to review its shareholding every five years and as India’s economy grows further, this should lead to a further improvement in India’s relative importance,” the Finance Ministry said in a statement.

The United States leads the organization in terms of voting rights with 15.85 percent followed by Japan with 6.84 percent and China with 4.42 percent. Other top voting countries include Germany with 4 percent, France with 3.75 percent and the United Kingdom with 3.75 percent.

The IBRD is managed like a cooperative and operated by its 186 member countries. The institution helps middle-income and creditworthy poorer countries to promote sustainable, equitable growth and addresses issues of regional and global concern.