Finance ministers from the developing world scored significant points against richer nations Wednesday, broadcasting a host of common concerns and gaining grudging support for an Asian safety net fund.
A proposal for an emergency fund to bail out troubled Asian nations - virtually dismissed at the start of the annual World Bank/IMF meeting - emerged at the end of the gathering a lot more respectable and more likely to work, officials said.Even the issue of Asian values - long a bugbear among Western countries who see it as an excuse for poor governance and market barriers - found a supporter in the form of New Zealand's Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters.
After a week of policy debates and speeches by heavy-hitting officials from the World Bank, IMF and Group of Seven, it was a rare chance for other nations to speak up.
"At these annual meetings, we, the small members of the Bretton Woods institutions, have one of the few opportunities to express our views on specific problems and challenges we face," said Fiji's Finance Minister James Ah Koy.
Several officials expressed frustration at the collateral damage wrought by Asia's recent currency crisis, which dented regional currencies and is likely to lower growth rates in what has been the world's fastest-growing region.
"While welcoming the inflows of productive long-term investment capital from abroad, the region has simultaneously become hostage to the volatile judgments and aggressive activities of foreign portfolio managers," said Sartaj Aziz, minister of finance and economic affairs of Pakistan.
Debt assistance remained a source of concern, despite progress. Some felt it was not going fast enough.
"We are deeply concerned about the slow progress in the implementation of the Highly Indebted Poor Countries Initiative, which basically reflects the financial uncertainties it faces," Colombian Finance Minister Jose Antonio Ocampo said.