- What is the International Monetary Fund (IMF)?
- History of the International Monetary Fund
- Objectives of the IMF
- IMF functions
- IMF member countries
- International Monetary Fund and World Bank
We explain what the International Monetary Fund is, its history, objectives, functions and member countries. Also, the World Bank.
What is the International Monetary Fund (IMF)?
The International Monetary Fund, known by its acronym IMF, is a organization international dedicated to cooperation international economy, the promotion of International Trade and the promotion of exchange and job stability. To do this, it offers various strategies for financial aid and support for local economic policies.
In other words, the International Monetary Fund is the main International organization dedicated to system maintenance macroeconomic. It is made up of 189 different countries that make a percentage of their international financial reserves available to the fund. Its headquarters are in Washington, United States.
However, this organization works with a corporate spirit, and not according to the horizontality of most of the companies. institutions diplomatic or international politics (one country = one vote). In other words, the countries that have the highest shares of financial participation in the IMF are those who have the greatest voting power in their decisions and policies.
Every so often a review is made of these fees and the economies Emerging companies have the option of gaining greater participation.
The structure of the International Monetary Fund is made up of an Assembly of Governors that make the decisions and elects a Board of Directors to serve as its executive arm. With only 24 directors, each represents more than one country, or one region determined.
History of the International Monetary Fund
The IMF was officially founded in 1945, at the end of the WWII, although it had already emerged as an idea the previous year, during the Bretton Woods Accords. The IMF was created to ensure the stability of the world's economic and financial system, after the brutal economic depression of 1929.
The IMF emerged from the hand of the World Bank, the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) and the General Agreement on Tariffs (GATT), as part of a series of organizations aimed at preserving economic stability and laying the foundations for the advent of a world trade.
In all this there was a notorious influence of the United States, power victorious of the Second World War (which later faced in the Cold War the Soviet Union). For this reason, economic integration plans such as the creation of a world bank with its own currency, were rejected to maintain the primacy of the dollar.
With the disappearance of the fixed exchange rate, as of 1976 the IMF focused its attention on the nations in the process of developing and in participation in economical crisis international Many of the criticisms of his management come from that time, accused of collaborating with right-wing Latin American dictatorships.
In addition, he is criticized for promoting a model of neoliberal capitalism that openly favors the interests of the United States, even when it means subjecting poorer nations to cruel and strict economic regimes.
Objectives of the IMF
The International Monetary Fund pursues the fundamental objective of promoting economic exchange and international trade in the world, especially among the less industrialized countries and those in need of help to achieve economic and financial growth rates.
It also offers loans and economic supervision to countries devastated by some crisis or misgovernment. In this way, its main goal is to be the institution that promotes economic growth on the planet, in order to maintain the balance of the system and prevent crises or severe economic fluctuations.
IMF functions
Among the different functions that the IMF performs we can find:
- Provide financial support to countries in need, in the form of multi-million dollar loans accompanied by a certain margin of economic supervision.
- Advise the economic policies of developing nations that request the tutelage of the institution.
- Keep a record of the economic performance of the countries that make up the Fund and make recommendations in this regard.
- Carry out measurements, statistical analysis and predictions on the global, regional and national economic situation.
IMF member countries
There are currently 189 member countries of the International Monetary Fund, of which 29 are also founding countries. Said nations are:
| Afghanistan | Albania |
| Germany | Angola |
| Old and bearded | Saudi Arabia |
| Algeria | Argentina |
| Armenia | Australia |
| Austria | Azerbaijan |
| Bahamas | Barbados |
| Bahrain | Bangladesh |
| Belgium | Belize |
| Benin | Belarus |
| Burma (Myanmar) | Bolivia |
| Bosnia and Herzegovina | Botswana |
| Brazil | Brunei Darussalam |
| Bulgaria | Burkina faso |
| Burundi | Bhutan |
| Cape Verde | Cambodia |
| Aruba | Chad |
| Cameroon | Canada |
| Taste | chili |
| China | Cyprus |
| Colombia | Comoros |
| South Korea | Ivory Coast |
| Costa Rica | Croatia |
| Denmark | Dominica |
| Ecuador | Egypt |
| The Savior | United Arab Emirates |
| Eritrea | Slovakia |
| Slovenia | Spain |
| Federated States of Micronesia | U.S |
| Estonia | Ethiopia |
| Philippines | Finland |
| Fiji | France |
| Gabon | Gambia |
| Georgia | Ghana |
| grenade | Greece |
| Guatemala | Guinea |
| Guinea-Bissau | Equatorial Guinea |
| Guyana | Haiti |
| Honduras | Hong Kong |
| Hungary | India |
| Indonesia | Iraq |
| Iran | Ireland |
| Iceland | Marshall Islands |
| Solomon Islands | Israel |
| Italy | Jamaica |
| Japan | Jordan |
| Djibouti | Kenya |
| Kyrgyzstan | Kiribati |
| Kuwait | Laos |
| Lesotho | Latvia |
| Lebanon | Liberia |
| Libya | Lithuania |
| Luxembourg | North macedonia |
| Madagascar | Malaysia |
| Kazakhstan | Maldives |
| Mali | malt |
| Morocco | Mauricio |
| Mauritania | Mexico |
| Moldova | Mongolia |
| Montenegro | Mozambique |
| Namibia | Nepal |
| Nicaragua | Niger |
| Nigeria | Norway |
| New Zealand | Oman |
| Netherlands | Pakistan |
| Malawi | Panama |
| Paúa New Guinea | Paraguay |
| Peru | Poland |
| Portugal | United Kingdom |
| Central African Republic | Czech Republic |
| Republic of Congo | Democratic Republic of Congo |
| Dominican Republic | Rwanda |
| Romania | Russia |
| Palau | Saint Kitts and Nevis |
| San Marino | St. Lucia |
| Sao Tome and Principe | Senegal |
| Serbia | Seychelles |
| Sierra Leone | Singapore |
| Syria | Sri Lanka |
| Swaziland | South Africa |
| Sudan | South Sudan |
| Sweden | Swiss |
| Surinam | Thailand |
| Taiwan | Tanzania |
| Tajikistan | East Timor |
| Togo | Tonga |
| Trinidad and Tobago | Tunisia |
| Turkmenistan | Turkey |
| Tuvalu | Ukraine |
| Samoa | Uruguay |
| Uzbekistan | Vanuatu |
| Venezuela | Vietnam |
| Uganda | Yemen |
| Djibouti | Zambia |
| Zimbabwe |
International Monetary Fund and World Bank
Both the IMF and the World Bank were created at the Bretton Woods Conference in 1944, and since then they have performed complementary but autonomous tasks. The World Bank has been involved in the fight against poverty and underdevelopment in the less industrialized countries.
For its part, the IMF seeks to stabilize the world financial system.Thus, while the World Bank places emphasis on strengthening the private sector of nations, the International Monetary Fund offers tutelage and economic advice to their respective State agencies.