EMPOWERED

IMF Beefed Up

New agreement boosts their influence.

Their economies are crucial to leading the world out of recession, and now major developing nations such as Brazil, China, and India will have a larger voice in the International Monetary Fund—a gain they have fought long and hard to achieve. The recently announced shift is part of an overhaul of the IMF meant to equip the organization with a mission appropriate to the economic downturn. Whereas the institution previously doled out advice to struggling countries, the fund will now be tasked with "aggressively monitoring the global economy," as well as being much more generous with its loans to developing nations suffering in the current crisis. The most obvious sign that times are changing? For the first time since World War II, the U.S. financial system will be on the receiving end of a "rigorous" review by the IMF.