The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is an international organization that was established in 1944 by the Bretton Woods conference. Part of the United Nations system, it aims to promote monetary co-operation, facilitate the growth of trade, promote exchange stability, help establish multilateral payments systems and offer resources to members with balance-of-payments difficulties. It carries out these tasks through surveillance—observing and advising members—and providing technical and financial assistance to member countries experiencing difficulties. In return, countries are obliged to meet certain conditions, such as economic reforms or privatization. These are referred to as Structural Adjustment Programmes.
The IMF has a membership of 184 countries. The resources of the IMF derive from quota subscriptions paid by member countries when they join. These quotas—calculated according to the member’s economic output and size of trade—determine the country’s subscription payments, the level of financing it can receive from the Fund, and its voting power within the organization. The USA pays 17.5% of total quotas.
The IMF is run on a day-to-day basis by the executive board which is composed of 24 executive directors and the managing director. Rodrigo de Rato has been managing director of the Fund since 2004. China, France, Germany, Japan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, the United Kingdom and the USA have their own seats on the board. The other 16 members are elected by groups of countries for a two-year term. The executive board is accountable to the board of governors, made up of a governor and an alternate governor nominated from each member state, which meets once a year. The IMF has been widely criticized for imposing austerity measures on countries in deep financial crisis, encouraging developing countries to take on additional debt, and for being unaccountable.
Man. Dir: Rodrigo de Rato
Address: 700 19th St, NW, Washington, DC 20431, USA
