Originally posted by the Voice of America. Voice of America content is produced by the Voice of America, a United States federal government-sponsored entity, and is in the public domain. G20 Agrees to Give Emerging Nations More Power in IMF VOA News 23 October 2010 US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner arrives at a press conference following the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors meeting in Gyeongju, 23 Oct 2010 Photo: AFP US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner arrives at a press conference following the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors meeting in Gyeongju, 23 Oct 2010 Finance ministers and central bank governors from the world's 20 leading economies reached an agreement Saturday to give emerging nations greater voting rights in the International Monetary Fund. The deal was announced Saturday on the final day of a 2-day G20 meeting in Gyeongju, South Korea. Under the deal, about 5 percent of voting rights in the IMF will be transferred, and countries like China and India will take their places among the top 10 shareholders. IMF managing director Dominique Strauss-Kahn told reporters that Europe had agreed to give up two seats on its 24-member board. Concerning another issue, the delegates failed to set targets for a global method of balancing currencies. Attempts to firm up language in the final communiqué to push emerging countries to accept meaningful appreciation of their currencies failed. The countries agreed only to refrain from competitive devaluation of their currencies. The meeting took place just three weeks before the G20 summit of heads of governments in the South Korean capital, Seoul. U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said Saturday the Seoul summit needs to give force to what was agreed to at this meeting. Before the meeting started Friday, Geithner asked his colleagues to work out a plan to limit trade surpluses to a set proportion of their national output. However, several emerging nations, as well as Germany and Japan, criticized the idea as impractical.  The discussion is part of a continuing effort to ease disputes over currency policies that critics say contribute to some nations selling far more goods than they buy.  Some economists say these trade imbalances raise unemployment in nations with trade deficits, including the United States. Officials warn that if these complex disputes are not resolved, they could slow world trade and harm economic growth. .