US Treasury Department Urges Congress to Pass IMF Reform Bill

US Secretary of the Treasury Jacob Lew testifies before the House Financial Services Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, March 17, 2015. The credibility of the United States is at risk if Congress fails to approve International Monetary Fund quota and governance reforms, Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew warned Tuesday. [Photo: CFP]

On the heels of a number of European countries moving to join the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, US Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew is once-again calling on US lawmakers to sign off on the bill to reform the rules of the International Monetary Fund.

The legislation would give emerging markets a bigger say in global economic policy.

At the same time, it will preserve US veto power in the IMF.

A US-backed reform plan for the IMF has been in-play since 2010.

However, the US Congress has refused to pass the changes.

"Our continued failure to approve the IMF reforms is causing other countries, including some of our allies, to question our commitment to the multilateral institutions that we worked so hard to create. And until these reforms are in place, the United States runs the risk of seeing its pre-eminent role in these institutions eroded, especially as others are establishing new and parallel financial institutions," said US Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew.

The legislation, much like most of the proposals put forward by the Obama administration, has been subject to Republican stonewalling in both the House of Representatives and the Senate.

It remains unclear if there is any appetite amongst the Republican leadership, which now controls both houses, whether to sign off on the IMF reforms.