Finance ministers and central bank governors from five leading emerging market economies, including Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS), on Thursday called for the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to speed up their quota and governance reforms.

"We are concerned with the slow pace of quota and governance reforms in the IMF," economic leaders of the five countries said in a joint communique after their meeting at the IMF and World Bank 2011 annual meetings in Washington. "The implementation of the 2010 reform is lagging."

In 2010, the 187 member nations of the IMF and its sister international financial institution, the World Bank, agreed to shift quota from advanced economies to emerging market and developing economies. The IMF also vowed to strengthen its surveillance, a major part of its governance reform.

The process of these historic reforms, however, remain slow due to legislative procedure and other barriers among the member countries.

"We must also move ahead with the comprehensive review of the quota formula by January 2013 and the completion of the next review of quotas by January 2014," said the communique. "This is needed to increase the legitimacy and effectiveness of the Fund."