Japan will continue to press the U.S. to accept a 2010 agreement for the International Monetary Fund to implement governance reforms, a deal that will help enhance the voices of emerging economies within the multilateral lender, Finance Minister Jun Azumi said Tuesday.
But Azumi also told reporters that he realizes it is difficult for the U.S. government, the biggest stakeholder in the IMF, followed by Japan, to make any politically sensitive decision ahead of the U.S. presidential election later this year.
"We will try to convince the United States," Azumi said. Tokyo will host the annual meetings of the 188-member IMF and its sister organization, the World Bank, in October, where the reform issue will be high on the agenda.