G-24: Supports Greater Role For IMF And Its SDRs

ISTANBUL (Dow Jones)--A group of developing nations on Saturday said it supported granting the International Monetary Fund a larger role in promoting stable economic growth and reserve currencies.

The Group of 24, which includes Brazil, Iran and Ghana among others, said the IMF should push for greater use of special drawing rights - the IMF's proxy currency - in the international monetary system.

The G-24 held a press conference in Istanbul during the annual meeting of the International Monetary Fund, which provides administrative services for the group of developing nations.

The G-24 said the threat of a prolonged global recession appeared to be receding but warned that the financial crisis had and will continue to "exact a heavy toll" on the developing world.

It is important to continue coordinated and countercyclical policies, according to the G-24.

The G-24 has little influence but with the shift in global economic power shifting increasingly to the emerging from the developed world, its interest in a greater role for the IMF may have an impact.

On Friday, IMF Managing-Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn proposed that the organization he heads serve as the world's lender of last resort, a central-banking role that he said could involve pooling excess reserves held by national governments.

The G-24 also demanded that developing nations be given more votes at the World Bank, boosting their voting share at the multilateral lender by six percentage points.