The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is an international organization An international organization is an organization with an international membership, scope, or presence. There are two main types: that oversees the global financial system The global financial system is a financial system consisting of institutions and regulations that act on the international level, as opposed to those that act on a national or regional level. The main players are the global institutions, such as International Monetary Fund and Bank for International Settlements, national agencies and government by following the macroeconomic policies Macroeconomics a branch of economics that deals with the performance, structure, and behavior of a national or regional economy as a whole. Along with microeconomics, macroeconomics is one of the two most general fields in economics. It is the study of the behavior and decision-making of entire economies. Macroeconomists study aggregated of its member countries, in particular those with an impact on exchange rates In finance, the exchange rates between two currencies specifies how much one currency is worth in terms of the other. It is the value of a foreign nation’s currency in terms of the home nation’s currency. For example an exchange rate of 102 Japanese yen (JPY, ¥) to the United States dollar (USD, $) means that JPY 102 is worth the same as USD 1 and the balance of payments In economics, the balance of payments, measures the payments that flow between any individual country and all other countries. It is used to summarize all international economic transactions for that country during a specific time period, usually a year. The BOP is determined by the country's exports and imports of goods, services, and financial. It is an organization formed to stabilize international exchange rates and facilitate development.[2] It also offers highly leveraged loans A loan is a type of debt. Like all debt instruments, a loan entails the redistribution of financial assets over time, between the lender and the borrower mainly to poorer countries A developing country is a country that has low standards of democratic governments, civil service, industrialization, social programs, and/or human rights guarantees that are yet to "develop" to those met in the developed world.[citation needed] or alternative goals of material progress[citation needed] . It is often[when?] a term used. Its headquarters are located in Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C. , formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, the District, or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States, founded on July 16, 1790. The City of Washington was originally a separate municipality within the Territory of Columbia until an act of Congress in 1871 effectively merged the City and the, USA The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its forty-eight contiguous states and Washington, D.C., the capital district, lie between the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, bordered by Canada to the north and Mexico to the.

Contents

Organization and purpose

Headquarters in Washington D.C. Washington, D.C. , formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, the District, or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States, founded on July 16, 1790. The City of Washington was originally a separate municipality within the Territory of Columbia until an act of Congress in 1871 effectively merged the City and the

The International Monetary Fund was created in July of 1944, originally with 46 members [1], with a goal to stabilize exchange rates and assist the reconstruction of the world's international payment system. Countries contributed to a pool which could be borrowed from, on a temporary basis, by countries with payment imbalances. (Condon, 2007)

The IMF describes itself as "an organization of 186 countries (Kosovo Kosovo is a disputed region in the Balkans. Its majority is governed by the partially-recognised Republic of Kosovo (Albanian: Republika e Kosovës), which has de facto control over the territory; the exceptions are some Serb enclaves. Serbia does not recognise the secession of Kosovo and considers it a United Nations-governed entity within its being the 186th, as of June 29, 2009[3][4]), working to foster global monetary cooperation, secure financial stability, facilitate international trade, promote high employment and sustainable economic growth, and reduce poverty". With the exception of Taiwan Taiwan , also known as Formosa (福爾摩沙; from Portuguese (Ilha) Formosa, meaning "beautiful (island)"), is an island group located in East Asia between the South China Sea and the East China Sea off the southeastern coast of mainland China. It is well-known as the major area under the effective jurisdiction of the Republic of China ( (expelled in 1980)[5], North Korea ^ b. Kim Jong-il is the nation's most prominent leading figure and government figurehead, although he is neither the head of state nor the head of government; his official title is Chairman of the National Defence Commission of North Korea, a position which he has held since 1994, Cuba The Republic of Cuba (pronounced /ˈkjuːbə/ ; Spanish: República de Cuba, pronounced [reˈpuβlika ðe ˈkuβa] ( listen)) is an island country in the Caribbean. It consists of the island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos (left in 1964)[6], Andorra Andorra /ænˈdɔərə/ , officially the Principality of Andorra (Catalan: Principat d'Andorra), also called the Principality of the Valleys of Andorra, is a small landlocked country in western Europe, located in the eastern Pyrenees mountains and bordered by Spain and France. It is currently a prosperous country mainly because of tourism and its, Monaco Monaco /ˈmɒnəkoʊ/ , officially the Principality of Monaco (French: Principauté de Monaco; Monégasque: Principatu de Múnegu; Italian: Principato di Monaco; Occitan: Principat de Mónegue), is a small sovereign city-state located in South Western Europe on the northern central coast of the Mediterranean Sea, having a land border on three, Liechtenstein The Principality of Liechtenstein /ˈlɪktənstaɪn/ (German: Fürstentum Liechtenstein, ˈfʏʁstəntuːm ˈliçtənʃtaɪn (help·info)) is a doubly landlocked alpine microstate in Western Europe, bordered by Switzerland to the west and by Austria to the east, Tuvalu Tuvalu ( /tuːˈvɑːluː/ or /ˈtuːvəluː/), formerly known as the Ellice Islands, is a Polynesian island nation located in the Pacific Ocean midway between Hawaii and Australia. Its nearest neighbours are Kiribati, Samoa and Fiji. It comprises four reef islands and five true atolls. Its population of 11,992 makes it the third-least-populated and Nauru Nauru /nɑːˈuːruː/ , officially the Republic of Nauru and formerly known as Pleasant Island, is an island nation in the Micronesian South Pacific. The nearest neighbour is Banaba Island in the Republic of Kiribati, 300 km due east. Nauru is the world's smallest island nation, covering just 21 km² (8.1 sq. mi), and the smallest independent, all UN member states This article lists the member states of the United Nations . There are currently 192 UN member states, and each of them is a member of the United Nations General Assembly participate directly in the IMF. Most are represented by other member states on a 24-member Executive Board but all member countries belong to the IMF's Board of Governors.[7]

History

The International Monetary Fund was formally created in July 1944 during the United Nations Monetary and Financial Conference The conference was held from 1 July to 22 July 1944 in July, when the agreements were signed to set up the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development , the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The representatives of 44 governments met in the Mount Washington Hotel The Mount Washington Hotel opened in 1902 near Mount Washington, in the town of Carroll, New Hampshire. The area is better known as Bretton Woods, and includes the Bretton Woods ski resort nearby in the area of Bretton Woods, New Hampshire, United States of America, with the delegates to the conference agreeing on a framework for international economic cooperation.[8] The IMF was formally organised on December 27, 1945, when the first 29 countries signed its Articles of Agreement. The statutory purposes of the IMF today are the same as when they were formulated in 1943 (see #Assistance and reforms).

Today

The IMF's influence in the global economy steadily increased as it accumulated more members. The number of IMF member countries has more than quadrupled from the 44 states involved in its establishment, reflecting in particular the attainment of political independence by many developing countries and more recently the collapse of the Soviet bloc. The expansion of the IMF's membership, together with the changes in the world economy, have required the IMF to adapt in a variety of ways to continue serving its purposes effectively.

In 2008, faced with a shortfall in revenue, the International Monetary Fund's executive board agreed to sell part of the IMF's gold reserves. On April 27, 2008, IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn welcomed the board's decision April 7, 2008 to propose a new framework for the fund, designed to close a projected $400 million budget deficit over the next few years. The budget proposal includes sharp spending cuts of $100 million until 2011 that will include up to 380 staff dismissals.[9]

At the 2009 G-20 London summit The G-20 Leaders' Summit on Financial Markets and the World Economy was held in London on 2 April 2009 at the ExCeL Centre. It followed the first G-20 Leaders Summit on Financial Markets and the World Economy, which was held in Washington, D.C. on 14–15 November 2008. Heads of government or heads of state from the Group of Twenty Finance, it was decided that the IMF would require additional financial resources to meet prospective needs of its member countries during the ongoing global crisis. As part of that decision, the G-20 leaders pledged to increase the IMF's supplemental cash tenfold to $500 billion, and to allocate to member countries another $250 billion via Special Drawing Rights. [10][11]

Data Dissemination Systems

IMF Data Dissemination Systems participants: IMF member using SDDS IMF member, using GDDS IMF member, not using any of the DDSystems non-IMF entity using SDDS non-IMF entity using GDDS no interaction with the IMF

In 1995, the International Monetary Fund began work on data dissemination standards with the view of guiding IMF member countries to disseminate their economic and financial data to the public. The International Monetary and Financial Committee (IMFC) endorsed the guidelines for the dissemination standards and they were split into two tiers: The General Data Dissemination System (GDDS) and the Special Data Dissemination Standard (SDDS).

The International Monetary Fund executive board approved the SDDS and GDDS in 1996 and 1997 respectively and subsequent amendments were published in a revised “Guide to the General Data Dissemination System”. The system is aimed primarily at statisticians and aims to improve many aspects of statistical systems in a country. It is also part of the World Bank Millennium Development Goals and Poverty Reduction Strategic Papers.

The IMF established a system and standard to guide members in the dissemination to the public of their economic An economy is the realized economic system of a country or other area. It includes the production, exchange, distribution, and consumption of goods and services of that area. The study of different types and examples of economies is the subject of economic systems. A given economy is the end result of a process that involves its technological and financial Finance is the science of funds management. The general areas of finance are business finance, personal finance, and public finance. Finance includes saving money and often includes lending money. The field of finance deals with the concepts of time, money and risk and how they are interrelated. It also deals with how money is spent and budgeted data. Currently there are two such systems: General Data Dissemination System (GDDS) and its superset In mathematics, especially in set theory, a set A is a subset of a set B if A is "contained" inside B. Notice that A and B may coincide. The relationship of one set being a subset of another is called inclusion Special Data Dissemination System (SDDS), for those member countries having or seeking access to international capital markets The capital market is the market for securities, where companies and governments can raise longterm funds. It is a market in which money is lent for periods longer than a year. The capital market includes the stock market and the bond market. Financial regulators, such as the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission , oversee the capital markets in.

The primary objective of the GDDS is to encourage IMF member countries to build a framework to improve data quality and increase statistical capacity building. This will involve the preparation of metadata describing current statistical collection practices and setting improvement plans. Upon building a framework, a country can evaluate statistical needs, set priorities in improving the timeliness, transparency, reliability and accessibility of financial and economic data.

Some countries initially used the GDDS, but lately upgraded to SDDS.

Some entities that are not themselves IMF members also contribute statistical data to the systems:

Membership qualifications

Any country may apply for membership to the IMF. The application will be considered first by the IMF's Executive Board. After its consideration, the Executive Board will submit a report to the Board of Governors of the IMF with recommendations in the form of a "Membership Resolution." These recommendations cover the amount of quota A quota share is a specified number or percentage of the allotment as a whole , that is prescribed to each individual entity (see Non-tariff barriers to trade) in the IMF, the form of payment of the subscription, and other customary terms and conditions of membership. After the Board of Governors has adopted the "Membership Resolution," the applicant state needs to take the legal steps required under its own law to enable it to sign the IMF's Articles of Agreement and to fulfil the obligations of IMF membership. Similarly, any member country can withdraw from the Fund, although that is rare. For example, in April 2007, the president of Ecuador Ecuador , officially the Republic of Ecuador (Spanish: República del Ecuador, pronounced [reˈpuβlika ðel ekwaˈðoɾ]), literally, "Republic of the equator") is a representative democratic republic in South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, by Peru on the east and south, and by the Pacific Ocean to the west. It is one of, Rafael Correa Rafael Vicente Correa Delgado is the President of the Republic of Ecuador and a self-described "humanist and Christian of the left". A United States-educated economist, he briefly served as Finance Minister in 2005; he was elected as President in late 2006 and took office in January 2007. In December 2008, he repudiated Ecuador's announced the expulsion of the World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides leveraged loans to poorer countries for capital programs with a claimed goal of reducing poverty representative in the country. A few days later, at the end of April, Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías (born July 28, 1954) is the President of Venezuela. As the leader of the Bolivarian Revolution, Chávez promotes a political doctrine of participatory democracy, socialism and Latin American and Caribbean cooperation. He is also a critic of neoliberalism, globalization, and United States foreign policy announced that the country would withdraw from the IMF and the World Bank. Chavez dubbed both organisations as “the tools of the empire” that “serve the interests of the North”. [2] As of June 2009, both countries remain as members of both organisations. Venezuela was forced to back down because a withdrawal would have triggered default clauses in the country's sovereign bonds.

A member's quota in the IMF determines the amount of its subscription, its voting weight, its access to IMF financing, and its allocation of Special Drawing Rights (SDRs Special Drawing Rights are potential claims on the freely usable currencies of International Monetary Fund members. SDRs have the ISO 4217 currency code XDR). The United States has exclusive veto power. A member state cannot unilaterally increase its quota — increases must be approved by the Executive Board and are linked to formulas that include many variables such as the size of a country in the world economy. For example, in 2001, China China has one of the world's oldest and continuous civilizations, consisting of states and cultures dating back more than six millennia.[citation needed] It has the world's longest continuously used written language system,[citation needed] and is viewed as the source of many major inventions. Historically, China's cultural sphere has extended was prevented from increasing its quota as high as it wished, ensuring it remained at the level of the smallest G7 economy (Canada Canada is a country occupying most of upper North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean. It is the world's second largest country by total area and shares the world's longest common border with the United States to the south and northwest).[12] In September 2005, the IMF's member countries agreed to the first round of ad hoc quota increases for four countries, including China. On March 28, 2008, the IMF's Executive Board ended a period of extensive discussion and negotiation over a major package of reforms to enhance the institution's governance that would shift quota and voting shares from advanced to emerging markets and developing countries. The Fund's Board of Governors must vote on these reforms by April 28, 2008. See "Reform of IMF Quotas and Voice: Responding to Changes in the Global Economy" at www.imf.org.

Examples of press coverage of the discussions regarding changes to the voting formula to increase equity:

Members' quotas and voting power, and Board of Governors

Table showing the top 20 member countries in terms of voting power:[13]

IMF Member Country Quota: Millions of SDRs Special Drawing Rights are potential claims on the freely usable currencies of International Monetary Fund members. SDRs have the ISO 4217 currency code XDR Quota: Percentage of Total Governor Alternate Governor Votes: Number Votes: Percentage of Total
United States The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its forty-eight contiguous states and Washington, D.C., the capital district, lie between the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, bordered by Canada to the north and Mexico to the 37149.3 17.09 Timothy F. Geithner Ben Bernanke Ben Shalom Bernanke was born December 13, 1953. He is the Chairman of the Board of Governors of the United States Federal Reserve. Bernanke succeeded Alan Greenspan on February 1, 2006. He was ranked the 4th most powerful person in the world in an annual ranking by Newsweek in 2008 371743 16.79
Japan Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, People's Republic of China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south. The characters which make up Japan's name mean "sun-origin", which 13312.8 6.13 Kaoru Yosano Kaoru Yosano is a Japanese politician. He is a member of Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and member of the House of Representatives, currently serving his ninth term in the Lower House representing Tokyo's first electoral district. Yosano was Chief Cabinet Secretary to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe from August 2007 to September 2007 and is currently Masaaki Shirakawa 133378 6.02
Germany Germany (pronounced /ˈdʒɜrməni/ ), officially the Federal Republic of Germany (German: Bundesrepublik Deutschland, pronounced [ˈbʊndəsʁepuˌbliːk ˈdɔʏtʃlant] ( listen)), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south 13008.2 5.99 Axel A. Weber Axel Alfred Weber is a German economist and has been the president of the Deutsche Bundesbank since April 2004 Peer Steinbrück 130332 5.88
France 10738.5 4.94 Christine Lagarde Christian Noyer 107635 4.86
United Kingdom 10738.5 4.94 Alistair Darling Mervyn King 107635 4.86
China 8090.1 3.72 Zhou Xiaochuan Hu Xiaolian 81151 3.66
Italy 7055.5 3.25 Giulio Tremonti Mario Draghi 70805 3.2
Saudi Arabia 6985.5 3.21 Ibrahim A. Al-Assaf Hamad Al-Sayari 70105 3.17
Canada 6369.2 2.93 Jim Flaherty Mark Carney 63942 2.89
Russian Federation 5945.4 2.74 Aleksei Kudrin Sergey Ignatiev 59704 2.7
Netherlands 5162.4 2.38 Nout Wellink L.B.J. van Geest 51874 2.34
Belgium 4605.2 2.12 Guy Quaden Jean-Pierre Arnoldi 46302 2.09
India 4158.2 1.91 Pranab Mukherjee D. Subbarao 41832 1.89
Switzerland 3458.5 1.59 Jean-Pierre Roth Hans-Rudolf Merz 34835 1.57
Australia 3236.4 1.49 Wayne Swan Ken Henry 32614 1.47
Mexico 3152.8 1.45 Agustín Carstens Guillermo Ortiz 31778 1.43
Spain 3048.9 1.40 Pedro Solbes Miguel Fernández Ordóñez 30739 1.39
Brazil 3036.1 1.40 Guido Mantega Henrique de Campos Meirelles 30611 1.38
Korea, South 2927.3 1.35 Okyu Kwon Seong Tae Lee 29523 1.33
Venezuela 2659.1 1.22 Gastón Parra Luzardo Rodrigo Cabeza Morales 26841 1.21
remaining 165 countries 60081.4 29.14 respective respective 637067 28.78

Assistance and reforms

Main articles: Washington consensus and Structural adjustment program

The primary mission of the IMF is to provide financial assistance to countries that experience serious financial and economic difficulties using funds deposited with the IMF from the institution's 185 member countries. Member states with balance of payments problems, which often arise from these difficulties, may request loans to help fill gaps between what countries earn and/or are able to borrow from other official lenders and what countries must spend to operate, including to cover the cost of importing basic goods and services. In return, countries are usually required to launch certain reforms, which have often been dubbed the "Washington Consensus". These reforms are thought to be beneficial to countries with fixed exchange rate policies that may engage in fiscal, monetary, and political practices which may lead to the crisis itself. For example, nations with severe budget deficits, rampant inflation, strict price controls, or significantly over-valued or under-valued currencies run the risk of facing balance of payment crises. Thus, the structural adjustment programs are at least ostensibly intended to ensure that the IMF is actually helping to prevent financial crises rather than merely funding financial recklessness.

IMF/World Bank support of military dictatorships

The role of the Bretton Woods institutions has been controversial since the late Cold War period, as the IMF policy makers supported military dictatorships friendly to American and European corporations. Critics also claim that the IMF is generally apathetic or hostile to their views of democracy, human rights, and labor rights. The controversy has helped spark the Anti-globalization movement. Arguments in favor of the IMF say that economic stability is a precursor to democracy; however, critics highlight various examples in which democratized countries fell after receiving IMF loans.[14]

In the 1960s, the IMF and the World Bank supported the government of Brazil’s military dictator Castello Branco with tens of millions of dollars of loans and credit that were denied to previous democratically-elected governments.[15]

Countries that were or are under a Military dictatorship whilst being members of the IMF/World Bank (support from various sources in $ Billion):[16]

Country indebted to IMF/World Bank Dictator In power from In power to Debt % at start of Dictatorship Debt % at end of Dictatorship Country Debts in 1996 Dictator debts generated $ billion Dictator generated debt % of total debt
Argentina Military dictatorship 1976 1983 9.3 48.9 93.8 39.6 42%
Bolivia Military dictatorship 1962 1980 0 2.7 5.2 2.7 52%
Brazil Military dictatorship 1964 1985 5.1 105.1 179 100 56%
Chile Augusto Pinochet 1973 1989 5.2 18 27.4 12.8 47%
El Salvador Military dictatorship 1979 1994 0.9 2.2 2.2 1.3 59%
Ethiopia Mengistu Haile Mariam 1977 1991 0.5 4.2 10 3.7 37%
Haiti Jean-Claude Duvalier 1971 1986 0 0.7 0.9 0.7 78%
Indonesia Suharto 1967 1998 3 129 129 126 98%
Kenya Moi 1979 2002 2.7 6.9 6.9 4.2 61%
Liberia Doe 1979 1990 0.6 1.9 2.1 1.3 62%
Malawi Banda 1964 1994 0.1 2 2.3 1.9 83%
Nigeria Buhari/Abacha 1984 1998 17.8 31.4 31.4 13.6 43%
Pakistan Zia-ul Haq 1977 1988 7.6 17
Paraguay Stroessner 1954 1989 0.1 2.4 2.1 2.3 96%
Philippines Marcos 1965 1986 1.5 28.3 41.2 26.8 65%
Somalia Siad Barre 1969 1991 0 2.4 2.6 2.4 92%
South Africa apartheid 1948 1992 18.7 23.6 18.7 79%
Sudan Nimeiry/al-Mahdi 1969 present 0.3 17 17 16.7 98%
Syria Assad 1970 present 0.2 21.4 21.4 21.2 99%
Thailand Military dictatorship 1950 1983 0 13.9 90.8 13.9 15%
Zaire/Congo Mobutu 1965 1997 0.3 12.8 12.8 12.5 98%

Notes: Debt at takeover by dictatorship; earliest data published by the World Bank is for 1970. Debt at end of dictatorship (or 1996, most recent date for World Bank data).

Criticism

"The interests of the IMF represent the big international interests that seem to be established and concentrated in Wall Street."

— Che Guevara, Marxist revolutionary, 1959 [17]

Two criticisms from economists have been that financial aid is always bound to so-called "Conditionalities", including Structural Adjustment Programs. It is claimed that conditionalities (economic performance targets established as a precondition for IMF loans) retard social stability and hence inhibit the stated goals of the IMF, while Structural Adjustment Programs lead to an increase in poverty in recipient countries.[18]

One of the main SAP conditions placed on troubled countries is that the governments sell up as much of their national assets as they can, normally to western corporations at heavily discounted prices.

That said, the IMF sometimes advocates "austerity programmes," increasing taxes even when the economy is weak, in order to generate government revenue and balance budget deficits, which is Keynesian policy. Countries are often advised to lower their corporate tax rate. These policies were criticised by Joseph E. Stiglitz, former chief economist and Senior Vice President at the World Bank, in his book Globalization and Its Discontents.[19] He argued that by converting to a more Monetarist approach, the fund no longer had a valid purpose, as it was designed to provide funds for countries to carry out Keynesian reflations, and that the IMF "was not participating in a conspiracy, but it was reflecting the interests and ideology of the Western financial community."[20].

Argentina, which had been considered by the IMF to be a model country in its compliance to policy proposals by the Bretton Woods institutions, experienced a catastrophic economic crisis in 2001, which some believe to have been caused by IMF-induced budget restrictions — which undercut the government's ability to sustain national infrastructure even in crucial areas such as health, education, and security — and privatization of strategically vital national resources.[21] Others attribute the crisis to Argentina's misdesigned fiscal federalism, which caused subnational spending to increase rapidly.[22] The crisis added to widespread hatred of this institution in Argentina and other South American countries, with many blaming the IMF for the region's economic problems.[23] The current — as of early 2006 — trend towards moderate left-wing governments in the region and a growing concern with the development of a regional economic policy largely independent of big business pressures has been ascribed to this crisis.

Another example of where IMF Structural Adjustment Programmes aggravated the problem was in Kenya. Before the IMF got involved in the country, the Kenyan central bank oversaw all currency movements in and out of the country. The IMF mandated that the Kenyan central bank had to allow easier currency movement. However, the adjustment resulted in very little foreign investment, but allowed Kamlesh Manusuklal Damji Pattni, with the help of corrupt government officials, to siphon off billions of Kenyan shillings in what came to be known as the Goldenberg scandal, leaving the country worse off than it was before the IMF reforms were implemented.[citation needed] In an interview, the former Romanian Prime Minister Tăriceanu stated that "Since 2005, IMF is constantly making mistakes when it appreciates the country's economic performances".[24]

In September 2007 the IMF said "given the Irish economy's strong fundamentals and the authorities' commitment to sound policies,the Directors expected economic growth to remain robust over the medium term."[25]Seventeen months later in April 2009, the New York Times quoted a Nobel prize-winning economist, who identified Ireland as a model for the worst-case scenario for the global economy.[26]

Overall the IMF success record is perceived as limited.[citation needed] While it was created to help stabilize the global economy, since 1980 critics claim over 100 countries (or reputedly most of the Fund's membership) have experienced a banking collapse that they claim have reduced GDP by four percent or more, far more than at any time in Post-Depression history.[citation needed] The considerable delay in the IMF's response to any crisis, and the fact that it tends to only respond to them or even create them[27] rather than prevent them, has led many economists to argue for reform. In 2006, an IMF reform agenda called the Medium Term Strategy was widely endorsed by the institution's member countries. The agenda includes changes in IMF governance to enhance the role of developing countries in the institution's decision-making process and steps to deepen the effectiveness of its core mandate, which is known as economic surveillance or helping member countries adopt macroeconomic policies that will sustain global growth and reduce poverty. On June 15, 2007, the Executive Board of the IMF adopted the 2007 Decision on Bilateral Surveillance, a landmark measure that replaced a 30-year-old decision of the Fund's member countries on how the IMF should analyse economic outcomes at the country level.

Impact on Public Health

In 2008, a study by analysts from Cambridge and Yale universities published on the open-access Public Library of Science concluded that strict conditions on the international loans by the IMF resulted in thousands of deaths in Eastern Europe by tuberculosis as public health care had to be weakened. In the 21 countries which the IMF had given loans, tuberculosis deaths rose by 16.6 %.[28]

Criticism from free-market advocates

Typically the IMF and its supporters advocate a monetarist approach. As such, adherents of supply-side economics generally find themselves in open disagreement with the IMF. The IMF frequently advocates currency devaluation, criticized by proponents of supply-side economics as inflationary. Secondly they link higher taxes under "austerity programmes" with economic contraction.

Currency devaluation is recommended by the IMF to the governments of poor nations with struggling economies. Some economists claim these IMF policies are destructive to economic prosperity.

Complaints are also directed toward International Monetary Fund gold reserve being undervalued. At its inception in 1945, the IMF pegged gold at US$35 per Troy ounce of gold. In 1973 the Nixon administration lifted the fixed asset value of gold in favor of a world market price. Hence the fixed exchange rates of currencies tied to gold were switched to a floating rate, also based on market price and exchange. This largely came about because Petrodollars outside the United States were more than could be backed by the gold at Fort Knox under the fixed exchange rate system. The fixed rate system only served to limit the amount of assistance the organisation could use to help debt-ridden countries. Current IMF rules prohibit members from linking their currencies to gold.[citation needed]

Attempts to repair image

Research by the Pew Research Center shows that more than 60 percent of Asians and 70 percent of Africans feel that the IMF and the World Bank have a positive effect on their country. However it is pertinent to note that the survey aggregated international organisations including the World Trade Organisation. Also, a similar percentage of people in the Western world believed that these international organisations had a positive effect on their countries. In 2005, the IMF was the first multilateral financial institution to implement a sweeping debt-relief program for the world's poorest countries known as the Multilateral Debt Relief Initiative. By year-end 2006, 23 countries mostly in sub-Saharan Africa and Central America had received total relief of debts owed to the IMF.

Past managing directors

Historically the IMF's managing director has been European and the president of the World Bank has been from the United States. However, this standard is increasingly being questioned and competition for these two posts may soon open up to include other qualified candidates from any part of the world. Executive Directors, who confirm the managing director, are voted in by Finance Ministers from countries they represent. The First Deputy Managing Director of the IMF, the second-in-command, has traditionally been (and is today) an American.

The IMF is for the most part controlled by the major Western Powers, with voting rights on the Executive board based on a quota derived from the relative size of a country in the global economy. Critics claim that the board rarely votes and passes issues contradicting the will of the US or Europeans, which combined represent the largest bloc of shareholders in the Fund. On the other hand, Executive Directors that represent emerging and developing countries have many times strongly defended the group of nations in their constituency. Alexandre Kafka, who represented several Latin American countries for 32 years as Executive Director (including 21 as the dean of the Board), is a prime example. Mohamed Finaish from Libya, the Executive Director representing the majority of the Arab World and Pakistan, was a tireless defender[citation needed] of the developing nations' rights at the IMF until the 1992 elections.

Rodrigo Rato became the ninth Managing Director of the IMF on June 7, 2004 and resigned his post at the end of October 2007.

EU ministers agreed on the candidacy of Dominique Strauss-Kahn as managing director of the IMF at the Economic and Financial Affairs Council meeting in Brussels on July 10, 2007. On September 28, 2007, the International Monetary Fund's 24 executive directors elected Mr. Strauss-Kahn as new managing director, with broad support including from the United States and the 27-nation European Union. Strauss-Kahn succeeded Spain's Rodrigo de Rato, who retired on October 31, 2007.[29] The only other nominee was Josef Tosovsky, a late candidate proposed by Russia. Strauss-Kahn said: "I am determined to pursue without delay the reforms needed for the IMF to make financial stability serve the international community, while fostering growth and employment."[30]

Dates Name Country
May 6, 1946 – May 5, 1951 Camille Gutt Belgium
August 3, 1951 – October 3, 1956 Ivar Rooth Sweden
November 21, 1956 – May 5, 1963 Per Jacobsson Sweden
September 1, 1963 – August 31, 1973 Pierre-Paul Schweitzer France
September 1, 1973 – June 16, 1978 Johannes Witteveen Netherlands
June 17, 1978 – January 15, 1987 Jacques de Larosière France
January 16, 1987 – February 14, 2000 Michel Camdessus France
May 1, 2000 – March 4, 2004 Horst Köhler Germany
June 7, 2004 – October 31, 2007 Rodrigo Rato Spain
November 1, 2007 – present Dominique Strauss-Kahn France

Media representation of the IMF

Life and Debt, a documentary film, deals with the IMF's policies' influence on Jamaica and its economy from a critical point of view. In 1978, one year after Jamaica first entered a borrowing relationship with the IMF, the Jamaican dollar was still worth more on the open exchange than the US dollar; by 1995, when Jamaica terminated that relationship, the Jamaican dollar had eroded to less than 2 cents US. Such observations lead to skepticism that IMF involvement is not necessarily helpful to a third world economy.

The Debt of Dictators [3] explores the lending of billions of dollars by the IMF, World Bank multinational banks and other international financial institutions to brutal dictators throughout the world. (see IMF/World Bank support of military dictatorships)

Radiohead mentions the IMF in their song "Electioneering" on their 1997 release, OK Computer. The lyrics state, "It's just business/Cattle prods and the IMF/I trust I can rely on your vote". Bruce Cockburn mentions the IMF in his song "Call It Democracy". The lyrics state "IMF dirty MF/takes away everything it can get/always making certain that there's one thing left/keep them on the hook with insupportable debt".

See also

References

  1. ^ Exchange Rate Archives by Month
  2. ^ Sullivan, arthur; Steven M. Sheffrin (2003). Economics: Principles in action. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458: Pearson Prentice Hall. pp. 488. ISBN 0-13-063085-3. http://www.pearsonschool.com/index.cfm?locator=PSZ3R9&PMDbSiteId=2781&PMDbSolutionId=6724&PMDbCategoryId=&PMDbProgramId=12881&level=4.
  3. ^ Staff reporter (2009-06-29). "Republic of Kosovo is now officially a member of the IMF and the World Bank". The Kosovo Times. http://www.kosovotimes.net/flash-news/676-republic-of-kosovo-is-now-officially-a-member-of-the-imf-and-the-world-bank.html. Retrieved on 2009-06-29. "Kosovo signed the Articles of Agreement of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (the World Bank) on behalf of Kosovo at the State Department in Washington."
  4. ^ International Monetary Fund (2009-06-29). Kosovo Becomes the International Monetary Fund’s 186th Member. Press release. http://www.imf.org/external/np/sec/pr/2009/pr09240.htm. Retrieved on 2009-06-29.
  5. ^ Andrews, Nick; Bob Davis (2009-05-07). "Kosovo Wins Acceptance to IMF". The Wall Street Journal. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124154560907188151.html. Retrieved on 2009-05-07. "Taiwan was booted out of the IMF in 1980 when China was admitted, and it hasn't applied to return since."
  6. ^ Staff reporter (2009-04-27). "Brazil calls for Cuba to be allowed into IMF". Caribbean Net News. http://www.caribbeannetnews.com/cuba/cuba.php?news_id=15996&start=0&category_id=5. Retrieved on 2009-05-07. "Cuba was a member of the IMF until 1964, when it left under revolutionary leader Fidel Castro following his confrontation with the United States."
  7. ^ IMF Articles of Agreement, Article XII Section 2(a) and Section 3(b).
  8. ^ Brief video of the Bretton Woods Conference is available at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GVytOtfPZe8
  9. ^ http://www.imf.org/external/np/sec/pr/2008/pr0874.htm
  10. ^ http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7979483.stm
  11. ^ G20: Gordon Brown brokers massive financial aid deal for global economy
  12. ^ Barnett, Michael; Finnemore, Martha (2004), Rules for the World: International Organisations in Global Politics, Ithaca: Cornell University Press, ISBN 9780801488238 .
  13. ^ "http://www.imf.org/external/np/sec/memdir/members.htm#3". IMF. http://www.imf.org/external/np/sec/memdir/members.htm#3. Retrieved on 2007-09-24.
  14. ^ "World Bank - IMF support to dictatorships". cadtm. http://www.cadtm.org/spip.php?article809. Retrieved on 2007-09-21.
  15. ^ BRAZIL Toward Stability, TIME Magazine, December 31, 1965
  16. ^ "Dictators and debt". Jubilee 2000. http://www.jubileeresearch.org/analysis/reports/dictatorsreport.htm. Retrieved on 2007-09-21.
  17. ^ An interview with Che Guevara for Radio Rivadavia of Argentina on November 3, 1959
  18. ^ Hertz, Noreena. The Debt Threat. New York: Harper Collins Publishers, 2004.
  19. ^ Stiglitz, Joseph. Globalization and its Discontents. New York: WW Norton & Company, 2002.
  20. ^ Globalization: Stiglitz's Case
  21. ^ Economic debacle in Argentina: The IMF strikes again
  22. ^ Stephen Webb, "Argentina: Hardening the Provincial Budget Constraint," in Rodden, Eskeland, and Litvack (eds.), Fiscal Decentralization and the Challenge of Hard Budget Constraints (Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 2003).
  23. ^ How the IMF Props Up the Bankrupt Dollar System, by F. William Engdahl, US/Germany
  24. ^ Tăriceanu: FMI a făcut constant greşeli de apreciere a economiei româneşti - Mediafax
  25. ^ http://www.imf.org/external/np/sec/pn/2007/pn07117.htm
  26. ^ http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/finance/2009/0421/1224245070922.html
  27. ^ Budhoo, Davidson. Enough is Enough: Dear Mr. Camdessus... Open Letter to the Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund. New York: New Horizons Press, 1990.
  28. ^ International Monetary Fund Programs and Tuberculosis Outcomes in Post-Communist Countries PLoS Medicine. The study has not been independently verified, nor have the authors published parts of their supporting data. Retrieved 29-7-2008.
  29. ^ Yahoo.com, IMF to choose new director
  30. ^ BBC NEWS, Frenchman is named new IMF chief

Further references

External links

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