U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said on Sunday that World Bank members have agreed to give more voting power to emerging market nations.

"The new formula will better reflect the weight of the developing and transition countries in the global economy, while protecting the voice of the smallest and poorest countries," Geithner said at the World Bank's Development Committee meeting.

"Because we believe this overall outcome merits our strong endorsement, the United States agreed not to take up its full shareholding in this new arrangement," he said.

The Development Committee, a forum that facilitates intergovernmental consensus-building on development issues, is set to discuss the most comprehensive reform program in the World Bank's history.

The bank's 186 shareholders will decide on whether to support the first capital increase at the World Bank in more than 20 years, and whether to increase shares of the emerging and developing countries.

After a first phase of reforms agreed in 2008, developing countries have a 44 percent share in the World Bank.

At the Pittsburgh G20 summit in September 2009 and the Istanbul Development Committee in October 2009, the bank's shareholders agreed to move to at least 47 percent for developing and transition countries.

The World Bank is on a turning point, and shareholders of the bank must keep their promise to give developing countries "a bigger say" in the international financial organization, World Bank President Robert Zoellick said on Thursday.

The World Bank chief said that developing countries are key sources of demand for the global economic recovery, and over time,they can become multiple poles of growth.

World Bank officials said Saturday that the bank's shareholders have reached a preliminary agreement on vote change, noting that the shift might increase the votes of the emerging and developing world to 47.19 percent.