India defers announcement on contribution to IMF

India has decided to defer its announcement on making its contribution to the IMF as part of effort to maintain consensus among members of the BRICS , a powerful grouping of emerging economies.

"We will make our announcement (of commitment to the IMF) after talking to the Prime Minister in course of time. We decided in the course of the BRICS meeting that some of our BRICS members would take time. So it was decided that let's not announce right now," Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee told PTI here.

India had earlier decided to increase its share in the IMF, so that all the BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) would be among the 10 largest quota holders.

India's quota share at the IMF would increase from 2.44 per cent to 2.75 per cent after completion of the quota reforms. In absolute terms, India's quota would increase from SDR (special drawing right) 5,821.5 million to SDR 13,114.4 million.

"We will express our intention to contribute to the fund, but the exact amount we will communicate in time," Mukherjee said.

He said after the recently-held elections, the new government in Russia has not taken full shape. "The Russian government is not fully formed. After President (Vladimir) Putin takes over, then he will constitute his government. So it was difficult for Russia to make any announcement at this stage," he said.