International Monetary Fund (IMF)
What is the IMF?
International Monetary Fund (IMF) - a financial structure created after World War II to create a stable economy for each state, prevent possible economic shocks in the world, ensure economic and trade cooperation between countries, and stabilize the balance of payments of the participants in case of need.
The International Monetary Fund operates on the basis of the IMF Charter. It is a specialized structure of the UN, headquartered in Washington, USA.
Which countries are members of the International Monetary Fund?
The International Monetary Fund has 188 member countries. Membership in the IMF is open to any state that pursues an independent foreign policy and is willing to accept the rights and obligations provided for in the IMF statute.
The IMF does not include:
- Cuba,
- DPRK,
- Andorra,
- Monaco,
- Liechtenstein,
- Nauru,
- Vatican City.
The influence of IMF member countries on the activities of the fund is exercised by voting according to the principle of "weighted" voting power. That is, the number of votes is determined by the state's share in the IMF capital. To the 250 "basic" votes that each state has, one vote is added for every 100,000 SDRs of the IMF capital contribution.
What functions does the IMF perform?
The IMF's functions include:
- promoting international cooperation in monetary policy
- expansion of global trade
- lending
- stabilization of monetary exchange rates
- advising debtor countries (debtors)
- development of international financial statistics standards
- collection and publication of international financial statistics
The IMF has the right to create financial reserves and provide short-term loans to member countries. The fund is replenished by contributing quotas, which are divided among states according to their level of economic development. When borrowing from the IMF's reserves, the creditor country undertakes to take measures to remedy a difficult situation and, accordingly, to return the borrowed funds.
International Monetary Fund website: www.imf.org/