If developing nations are not given more say in global financial institutions, they will leave the fold of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank, a top Group of 24 official said over the weekend.
"The current system of governance is completely out of line with economic realities," Ariel Buira, director of the G24 Secretariat, told a news conference. "What is happening is that many countries are now moving away from these institutions."
Finance chiefs from the Group of 24 emerging nations also complained the United States did not consult them on the choice of Paul Wolfowitz as new World Bank president.
The ministers, gathering on the eve of IMF and World Bank spring meetings in Washington, said representation in the lenders' hierarchy did not accurately represent the growing stake of emerging markets in the global economy.
"Ministers stress the need for concrete actions to reduce the democratic deficit and enhance the voice and participation of developing countries in decision-making at the IMF and World Bank," the G24, which includes countries from Latin America, Asia and Africa, said in a communique after the meeting.
Emerging-market countries have long sought a change in the voting rights of the institutions and question why the IMF head is always a European and the World Bank head an American.
Mr Buira said many countries in Asia that borrowed from the IMF during the crises of the late 1990s were unhappy with the loan conditions forced onto them by the fund and are keen to avoid dealing with the lender again on those terms.
He said one of the reasons Asian economies had accumulated vast foreign exchange reserves in recent years was to enable them to cope with future crises independently.
"We want a multilateral system for international monetary cooperation in which everybody is represented in a fair and open way," Mr Buira said.
"This in the end will come to pass because otherwise institutions will become irrelevant, and it took a lot of effort to create them, and we do not want to destroy them."
G24 chairman Paul Toungui said under-representation of developing nations in the lenders undermined their legitimacy and effectiveness.
"Ministers hope that concrete measures will be taken swiftly to expand the voice of developing countries as well as their participation in the decision-making process," Mr Toungui, who is also Gabon's Finance Minister, told the briefing.
Despite promises by the Bush administration that it would consult widely in its search for a new World Bank president, Mr Toungui said the United States had not asked everyone.
President George W. Bush named Mr Wolfowitz, his former deputy defense secretary, last month. He was confirmed by the bank's board as president on March 31, despite quiet misgivings of some member nations about his role as architect of the Iraq war.
"I was not consulted as concerns the nomination of Mr Wolfowitz, so I cannot say whether I am satisfied or happy about it," Mr Toungui said.
"Now, we simply have to take note of this appointment. There is no sense in looking backwards in our rearview mirror. We have to look forward."
Mr Toungui said the G24 would continue to push for change and hoped "one day that situation will be far clearer for everyone concerned".