Geithner: US wants bigger role of China in IMF despite European objections

Geithner: US wants bigger role for China in IMF

PITTSBURGH — Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner says the U.S. supports China’s bid for greater voting rights in international organizations like the IMF and the World Bank for itself and other fast-growing economies despite European reservations.

Geithner called such a move, which would reduce the long-standing proportionate influence of European countries in these organizations, a necessary shift.

Geithner said, if agreed to, the shift would be done in stages.

Europeans recognize that this is going to happen, despite their protestations, he said. “It’s the right thing,” Geithner told reporters in Pittsburgh before an economic summit.