History

WHY ESTABLISHED

During the Great Depression of the 1930s, countries attempted to shore up their failing
economies by sharply raising barriers to foreign trade, devaluing their currencies to compete
against each other for export markets, and curtailing their citizens' freedom to hold foreign
exchange. These attempts proved to be self-defeating. World trade declined and employment
and living standards plummeted in many countries.
This breakdown in international monetary cooperation led the IMF's founders to plan an
institution charged with overseeing the international monetary systemthe system of exchange
rates and international payments that enables countries and their citizens to buy goods and
services from each other. The new global entity would ensure exchange rate stability and
encourage its member countries to eliminate exchange restrictions that hindered trade.

WHEN ESTABLISHED

The Bretton Woods agreement

The IMF was conceived in July 1944, when representatives of 45 countries meeting in the town
of Bretton Woods, New Hampshire, in the northeastern United States, agreed on a framework
for international economic cooperation, to be established after the Second World War. They
believed that such a framework was necessary to avoid a repetition of the disastrous economic
policies that had contributed to the Great Depression.
The IMF came into formal existence in December 1945, when its first 29 member countries
signed its Articles of Agreement. It began operations on March 1, 1947. Later that year, France
became the first country to borrow from the IMF.
The IMF's membership began to expand in the late 1950s and during the 1960s as many
African countries became independent and applied for membership. But the Cold War limited
the Fund's membership, with most countries in the Soviet sphere of influence not joining.

Purposes
The purposes of the International Monetary Fund are:
(1) provide a forum for cooperation on international monetary problems

(2) facilitate the growth of international trade, thus promoting job creation, economic
growth, and poverty reduction;
(3) promote exchange rate stability and an open system of international payments; and
(4)

lend countries foreign exchange when needed, on a temporary basis and under
adequate safeguards, to help them address balance of payments problems.

IMF
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is an organization of 188 countries, working to foster
global monetary cooperation, secure financial stability, facilitate international trade, promote
high employment and sustainable economic growth, and reduce poverty around the world.

Membership
. Original members
The original members of the Fund shall be those of the countries represented at the United
Nations Monetary and Financial Conference whose governments accept membership before
December 31, 1945.

Other members
Membership shall be open to other countries at such times and in accordance with such terms as
may be prescribed by the Board of Governors. These terms, including the terms for
subscriptions, shall be based on principles consistent with those applied to other countries that
are already members

Membership
The IMF has 188 member countries. It is a specialized agency of the United Nations but has its own
charter, governing structure, and finances. Its members are represented through a quota system
broadly based on their relative size in the global economy.

CARETEREA;
To become a member, a country must apply and then be accepted by a majority of the existing
members.
Upon joining, each member country of the IMF is assigned a quota, based broadly on its relative
size in the world economy.
A member country's quota defines its financial and organizational relationship with the IMF,
including:
Subscriptions

A member country's quota subscription determines the maximum amount of financial

resources the country is obliged to provide to the IMF. A country must pay its subscription in full
upon joining the IMF: up to 25 percent must be paid in the IMF's own currency, called Special
Drawing Rights (SDRs) or widely accepted currencies (such as the dollar, the euro, the yen, or
pound sterling), while the rest is paid in the member's own currency.
Voting power
The quota largely determines a member's voting power in IMF decisions. Each IMF member's
votes are comprised of basic votes plus one additional vote for each SDR 100,000 of quota. The
number of basic votes attributed to each member is calculated as 5.502 percent of total votes.
Accordingly, the United States has 421,965 votes (16.76 percent of the total), and Tuvalu has
759 votes (0.03 percent of the total).
Access to financing
The amount of financing a member country can obtain from the IMF is based on its quota. For
instance, under Stand-By and Extended Arrangements, which are types of loans, a member
country can borrow up to 200 percent of its quota annually and 600 percent cumulatively.
SDR allocations
SDRs are used as an international reserve asset. A member's share of general SDR allocations
is established in proportion to its quota.

WHAT IMF DO
Key IMF activities
The IMF supports its membership by providing

policy advice to governments and central banks based on analysis of economic trends and
cross-country experiences;

research, statistics, forecasts, and analysis based on tracking of global, regional, and
individual economies and markets;

loans to help countries overcome economic difficulties;

concessional loans to help fight poverty in developing countries; and

technical assistance and training to help countries improve the management of their economies.

How imf do it

Economic and Financial Surveillance

Technical Assistance and Training
IMF Lending
Research and Data

The IMFs main goal is to ensure the stability of the international monetary and financial
system. It helps resolve crises, and works with its member countries to promote growth and
alleviate poverty. It has three main tools at its disposal to carry out its mandate: surveillance,
technical assistance and training, and lending. These functions are underpinned by the IMFs
research and statistics.
Surveillance

The IMF promotes economic stability and global growth by encouraging countries to adopt
sound economic and financial policies. To do this, it regularly monitors global, regional, and
national economic developments. It also seeks to assess the impact of the policies of individual
countries on other economies.
This process of monitoring and discussing countries economic and financial policies is known as
bilateral surveillance. On a regular basisusually once each yearthe IMF conducts in depth
appraisals of each member countrys economic situation. It discusses with the countrys
authorities the policies that are most conducive to a stable and prosperous economy, drawing
on experience across its membership. Member countries may agree to publish the IMFs
assessment of their economies, with the vast majority of countries opting to do so.
The IMF also carries out extensive analysis of global and regional economic trends, known as
multilateral surveillance. Its key outputs are three semiannual publications, the World Economic
Outlook, the Global Financial Stability Report, and the Fiscal Monitor. The IMF also publishes a
series of regional economic outlooks.
The IMF recently agreed on a series of actions to enhance multilateral, financial, and bilateral
surveillance, including to better integrate the three; improve our understanding
of spillovers and the assessment of emerging and potential risks; and strengthen IMF policy
advice.
For more information on how the IMF monitors economies, go to Surveillance in the Our
Worksection.
Technical assistance and training
IMF offers technical assistance and training to help member countries strengthen their capacity
to design and implement effective policies. Technical assistance is offered in several areas,
including fiscal policy, monetary and exchange rate policies, banking and financial system
supervision and regulation, and statistics.
The IMF provides technical assistance and training mainly in four areas:

monetary and financial policies (monetary policy instruments, banking system supervision
and restructuring, foreign management and operations, clearing settlement systems for
payments, and structural development of central banks);

fiscal policy and management (tax and customs policies and administration, budget
formulation, expenditure management, design of social safety nets, and management of
domestic and foreign debt);

compilation, management, dissemination, and improvement of statistical data; and

economic and financial legislation.

For more on technical assistance, go to Technical Assistance in the Our Work section.
Lending
IMF financing provides member countries the breathing room they need to correct balance of
payments problems. A policy program supported by financing is designed by the national
authorities in close cooperation with the IMF. Continued financial support isconditional on the
effective implementation of this program.
In the most recent reforms, IMF lending instruments were improved further to provideflexible
crisis prevention tools to a broad range of members with sound fundamentals, policies, and
institutional policy frameworks.
In low-income countries, the IMF has doubled loan access limits and is boosting its lending to
the worlds poorer countries, with loans at a concessional interest rate.
For more on different types of IMF lending, go to Lending in the Our Work section.
Research and data
Supporting all three of these activities is the IMFs economic and
financial research andstatistics. In recent years, the IMF has applied both its surveillance and
technical assistance work to the development of standards and codes of good practice in its
areas of responsibility, and to the strengthening of financial sectors. These are part of the IMFs
continuing efforts to strengthen national and global financial systems and improve its ability to
prevent and resolve crises.

Organization & Finances

The IMF has a management team and 17 departments that carry out its country, policy,
analytical, and technical work. One department is charged with managing the IMF's resources.
This section also explains where the IMF gets its resources and how they are used.

Management
The IMF has a Managing Director, who is head of the staff and Chairman of the Executive Board. The
Managing Director is assisted by a First Deputy Managing Director and three other Deputy Managing
Directors.
The IMF is led by a Managing Director, who is head of the staff and Chairman of the Executive Board.
The Managing Director is assisted by a First Deputy Managing Director and three other Deputy
Managing Directors. The Management team oversees the work of the staff and maintains high-level
contacts with member governments, the media, non-governmental organizations, think tanks, and
other institutions
the Managing Director "shall be chief of the operating staff of the Fund and shall conduct, under
the direction of the Executive Board, the ordinary business of the Fund. Subject to the general
control of the Executive Board, he shall be responsible for the organization, appointment, and
dismissal of the staff of the Fund."

Managing Director, Christine Lagarde, a French national, joined the IMF as

Managing Director in July 2011. Before coming to the IMF, she was
France's Minister for Economy, Finance and Industry.

Finances
Quotas
The IMF's resources come mainly from the money that countries pay as their capital subscription when
they become members.

Each member country's quota broadly reflects the size of its economy: the larger a country's
economy in terms of output and the larger and more variable its trade, the larger its quota
tends to be. For example, the world's biggest economy, the United States, has the largest quota
in the IMF.

Quotas, together with the equal number of basic votes each member has, determine
countries'voting power. They also help determine how much countries can borrow from the IMF
and their share in allocations of special drawing rights or SDRs (the reserve currency created by
the IMF in 1969).
Countries pay 25 percent of their quota subscriptions in SDRs or major currencies, such as U.S.
dollars, euros, pounds sterling, or Japanese yen. They pay the remaining 75 percent in their
own currencies. The IMF's lending resources come mainly from the money that countries pay as
these quota subscriptions when they become members.

Special Drawing Rights

SDRs value
SDR allocations to IMF members

The Special Drawing Right (SDR) is an international reserve asset, created by the IMF in 1969
to supplement the existing official reserves of member countries.
The SDR is neither a currency, nor a claim on the IMF. Rather, it is a potential claim on the
freely usable currencies of IMF members. Holders of SDRs can obtain these currencies in
exchange for their SDRs in two ways: first, through the arrangement of voluntary exchanges
between members; and second, by the IMF designating members with strong external positions
to purchase SDRs from members with weak external positions. In addition to its role as a
supplementary reserve asset, the SDR serves as the unit of account of the IMF and some other
international organizations.
In addition to its role as a supplementary reserve asset, the SDR serves as the unit of account
of the IMF and some other international organizations.
SDRs value
The value of the SDR is based on a basket of key international currenciesthe euro, Japanese
yen, pound sterling, and U.S. dollar. The U.S. dollar-value of the SDR is posted daily on the
IMFs website. The basket composition is reviewed every five years by the Executive Board to
ensure that it reflects the relative importance of currencies in the worlds trading and financial
systems.
The SDR interest rate provides the basis for calculating the interest charged to members on
regular (nonconcessional) IMF loans, the interest paid and charged to members on their SDR
holdings, and the interest paid to members on a portion of their quota subscriptions. The SDR
interest rate is determined weekly and is based on a weighted average of representative
interest rates on short-term debt in the money markets of the SDR basket currencies.

Gold
The IMF also has some of the largest official holders of gold in the world.

Gold
The IMF holds a relatively large amount of gold among its assets, not only for reasons of
financial soundness, but also to meet unforeseen contingencies.

The IMF holds about 90.5 million ounces, or 2,814.1 metric tons, of gold at designated
depositories. The IMF's total gold holdings are valued on its balance sheet at about $4.9 billion
(SDR 3.2 billion) on the basis of historical cost. The IMF's holdings amount to about $160 billion
(as determined by end-February 2012 market prices).
Gold and the international monetary system
Gold played a central role in the international monetary system after World War II. The
countries that joined the IMF between 1945 and 1971 agreed to keep their exchange rates
pegged in terms of the dollar and, in the case of the United States, the value of the dollar in
terms of gold. This "par value system" ceased to work after 1971
Until the late 1970s, 25 percent of member countries' initial quota subscriptions and subsequent
quota increases had to be paid for with gold. Payment of charges and repayments to the IMF by
its members constituted other sources of gold.
Use of Gold in the IMF
The IMF's Articles of Agreement strictly limit the use of the gold following the Second
Amendment in 1978. But in some circumstances, the IMF may sell gold or accept gold as
payment from member countries.

Borrowing arrangements
The IMF keeps track of its future ability tolend by monitoring its one-year forward commitment
capacity, which gives an indication of resources available for lending.

Borrowing Arrangements
If the IMF believes that its resources might fall short of members' needsfor example, in the
event of a major financial crisisit can supplement its own resources by borrowing. It has had
a range of bilateral borrowing arrangements in the 1970s and 1980s. Currently it has two
standing multilateral borrowing arrangements and one bilateral borrowing agreement.
Through the New Arrangements to Borrow (NAB)and the General Arrangements to Borrow
(GAB), a number of member countries and institutions stand ready to lend additional funds to
the IMF. The GAB and NAB are credit arrangements between the IMF and a group of members
and institutions to provide supplementary resources of up to SDR 34 billion (about US$50
billion) to the IMF to forestall or cope with an impairment of the international monetary system
or to deal with an exceptional situation that poses a threat to the stability of that system.
In April 2009, the Group of Twenty industrialized and emerging market economies agreed to
triple the Funds lending capacity to $750 billion, enabling it to inject extra liquidity into the
world economy during this time of crisis. The additional support will come from several sources,
including contributions from member countries that have pledged to help boost the Funds
lending capacity.

Our Work
The IMF's fundamental mission is to help ensure stability in the international system. It does so
in three ways: keeping track of the global economy and the economies of member countries;
lending to countries with balance of payments difficulties; and giving practical help to members.

Surveillance
The IMF oversees the international monetary system and monitors the financial and economic policies
of its members. It keeps track of economic developments on a national, regional, and global basis,
consulting regularly with member countries and providing them with macroeconomic and financial
policy advice.
When a country joins the IMF, it agrees to subject its economic and financial policies to the scrutiny of
the international community. It also makes a commitment to pursue policies that are conducive to
orderly economic growth and reasonable price stability, to avoid manipulating exchange rates for
unfair competitive advantage, and to provide the IMF with data about its economy. The IMF's regular
monitoring of economies and associated provision of policy advice is intended to identify weaknesses
that are causing or could lead to financial or economic instability. This process is known assurveillance

Technical Assistance
To assist mainly low- and middle-income countries in effectively managing their economies, the IMF
provides practical guidance and training on how to upgrade institutions, and design appropriate
macroeconomic, financial, and structural policies.
The IMF shares its expertise with member countries by providing technical assistance and
training in a wide range of areas, such as central banking, monetary and exchange rate policy,
tax policy and administration, and official statistics. The objective is to help improve the design
and implementation of members' economic policies, including by strengthening skills in
institutions such as finance ministries, central banks, and statistical agencies. The IMF has also
given advice to countries that have had to reestablish government institutions following severe
civil unrest or war.

Lending
The IMF provides loans to countries that have trouble meeting their international payments and cannot
otherwise find sufficient financing on affordable terms. This financial assistance is designed to help
countries restore macroeconomic stability by rebuilding their international reserves, stabilizing their
currencies, and paying for importsall necessary conditions for relaunching growth. The IMF also
provides concessional loans to low-income countries to help them develop their economies and reduce
poverty.
A country in severe financial trouble, unable to pay its international bills, poses potential
problems for the stability of the international financial system, which the IMF was created to
protect. Any member country, whether rich, middle-income, or poor, can turn to the IMF for
financing if it has a balance of payments needthat is, if it cannot find sufficient financing on
affordable terms in the capital markets to make its international payments and maintain a safe
level of reserves.

IMF loans are meant to help member countries tackle balance of payments problems, stabilize
their economies, and restore sustainable economic growth. This crisis resolution role is at the
core of IMF lending. At the same time, the global financial crisis has highlighted the need for
effective global financial safety nets to help countries cope with adverse shocks. A key objective
of recent lending reforms has therefore been to complement the traditional crisis resolution role
of the IMF with more effective tools for crisis prevention.
The IMF is not a development bank and, unlike the World Bank and other development
agencies, it does not finance projects.
Lending to preserve financial stability
Article I of the IMF's Articles of Agreement states that the purpose of lending by the IMF is "...to
give confidence to members by making the general resources of the Fund temporarily available
to them under adequate safeguards, thus providing them with opportunity to correct
maladjustments in their balance of payments without resorting to measures destructive of
national or international prosperity."
In practice, the purpose of the IMF's lending has changed dramatically since the organization
was created. Over time, the IMF's financial assistance has evolved from helping countries deal
with short-term trade fluctuations to supporting adjustment and addressing a wide range of
balance of payments problems resulting from terms of trade shocks, natural disasters, postconflict situations, broad economic transition, poverty reduction and economic development,
sovereign debt restructuring, and confidence-driven banking and currency crises.
Today, IMF lending serves three main purposes.
First, it can smooth adjustment to various shocks, helping a member country avoid disruptive
economic adjustment or sovereign default, something that would be extremely costly, both for
the country itself and possibly for other countries through economic and financial ripple effects
(known as contagion).
Second, IMF programs can help unlock other financing, acting as a catalyst for other lenders.
This is because the program can serve as a signal that the country has adopted sound policies,
reinforcing policy credibility and increasing investors' confidence.
Third, IMF lending can help prevent crisis. The experience is clear: capital account crises
typically inflict substantial costs on countries themselves and on other countries through
contagion. The best way to deal with capital account problems is to nip them in the bud before
they develop into a full-blown crisis.
Conditions for lending
When a member country approaches the IMF for financing, it may be in or near a state of
economic crisis, with its currency under attack in foreign exchange markets and its international
reserves depleted, economic activity stagnant or falling, and a large number of firms and
households going bankrupt. In difficult economic times, the IMF helps countries to protect the
most vulnerable in a crisis.
The IMF aims to ensure that conditions linked to IMF loan disbursements are focused and
adequately tailored to the varying strengths of members' policies and fundamentals. To this
end, the IMF discusses with the country the economic policies that may be expected to address
the problems most effectively. The IMF and the government agree on a program of policies
aimed at achieving specific, quantified goals in support of the overall objectives of the
authorities' economic program. For example, the country may commit to fiscal or foreign
exchange reserve targets.
The IMF discusses with the country the economic policies that may be expected to address the
problems most effectively. The IMF and the government agree on a program of policies aimed
at achieving specific, quantified goals in support of the overall objectives of the authorities'
economic program. For example, the country may commit to fiscal or foreign exchange reserve
targets.
Loans are typically disbursed in a number of installments over the life of the program, with each
installment conditional on targets being met. Programs typically last up to 3 years, depending
on the nature of the country's problems, but can be followed by another program if needed. The

government outlines the details of its economic program in a "letter of intent" to the Managing
Director of the IMF. Such letters may be revised if circumstances change.
For countries in crisis, IMF loans usually provide only a small portion of the resources needed to
finance their balance of payments. But IMF loans also signal that a country's economic policies
are on the right track, which reassures investors and the official community, helping countries
find additional financing from other sources.
Main lending facilities
In an economic crisis, countries often need financing to help them overcome their balance of
payments problems. Since its creation in June 1952, the IMFs Stand-By Arrangement
(SBA) has been used time and again by member countries, it is the IMFs workhorse lending
instrument for emerging market countries. Rates are non-concessional, although they are
almost always lower than what countries would pay to raise financing from private markets. The
SBA was upgraded in 2009 to be more flexible and responsive to member countries needs.
Borrowing limits were doubled with more funds available up front, and conditions were
streamlined and simplified. The new framework also enables broader high-access borrowing on
a precautionary basis.
The Flexible Credit Line (FCL) is for countries with very strong fundamentals, policies, and track
records of policy implementation. It represents a significant shift in how the IMF delivers Fund
financial assistance, particularly with recent enhancements, as it has no ongoing (ex post)
conditions and no caps on the size of the credit line. The FCL is a renewable credit line, which at
the countrys discretion could be for either 1-2 years, with a review of eligibility after the first
year. There is the flexibility to either treat the credit line as precautionary or draw on it at any
time after the FCL is approved. Once a country qualifies (according to pre-set criteria), it can
tap all resources available under the credit line at any time, as disbursements would not be
phased and conditioned on particular policies as with traditional IMF-supported programs. This
is justified by the very strong track records of countries that qualify to the FCL, which give
confidence that their economic policies will remain strong or that corrective measures will be
taken in the face of shocks.
The Precautionary and Liquidity Line (PLL) builds on the strengths and broadens the scope of
the Precautionary Credit Line (PCL). The PLL provides financing to meet actual or potential
balance of payments needs of countries with sound policies, and is intended to serve as
insurance and help resolve crises. It combines a qualification process (similar to that for the
FCL) with focused ex-post conditionality aimed at addressing vulnerabilities identified during
qualification. Its qualification requirements signal the strength of qualifying countries
fundamentals and policies, thus contributing to consolidation of market confidence in the
countrys policy plans. The PLL is designed to provide liquidity to countries with sound policies
under broad circumstances, including countries affected by regional or global economic and
financial stress.
The Rapid Financing Instrument (RFI) provides rapid and low-access financial assistance to
member countries facing an urgent balance of payments need, without the need for a fullfledged program. It can provide support to meet a broad range of urgent needs, including those
arising from commodity price shocks, natural disasters, post-conflict situations and emergencies
resulting from fragility.
The Extended Fund Facility is used to help countries address balance of payments difficulties
related partly to structural problems that may take longer to correct than macroeconomic
imbalances. A program supported by an extended arrangement usually includes measures to
improve the way markets and institutions function, such as tax and financial sector reforms,
privatization of public enterprises.
The Trade Integration Mechanism allows the IMF to provide loans under one of its facilities to a
developing country whose balance of payments is suffering because of multilateral trade
liberalization, either because its export earnings decline when it loses preferential access to
certain markets or because prices for food imports go up when agricultural subsidies are
eliminated.
Lending to low-income countries

To help low-income countries weather the severe impact of the global financial crisis, the IMF
has revamped its concessional lending facilities to make them more flexible and meet increasing
demand for financial assistance from countries in need. These changes became effective in
January 2010. Once additional loan and subsidy resources are mobilized, these changes will
boost available resources for low-income countries to US$17 billion through 2014.
Three types of loans were created under the new Poverty Reduction and Growth Trust (PRGT) as
part of this broader reform: the Extended Credit Facility, the Rapid Credit Facility and the
Standby Credit Facility.
The Extended Credit Facility (ECF) provides financial assistance to countries with protracted
balance of payments problems. The ECF succeeds the Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility
(PRGF) as the Funds main tool for providing medium-term support LICs, with higher levels of
access, more concessional financing terms, more flexible program design features, as well as
streamlined and more focused conditionality.
The Rapid Credit Facility (RCF) provides rapid financial assistance with limited conditionality to
low-income countries (LICs) facing an urgent balance of payments need. The RCF streamlines
the Funds emergency assistance, provides significantly higher levels of concessionality, can be
used flexibly in a wide range of circumstances, and places greater emphasis on the countrys
poverty reduction and growth objectives.
The Standby Credit Facility (SCF) provides financial assistance to low-income countries (LICs)
with short-term balance of payments needs. It provides support under a wide range of
circumstances, allows for high access, carries a low interest rate, can be used on a
precautionary basis, and places emphasis on countries poverty reduction and growth
objectives.
Several low-income countries have made significant progress in recent years toward economic
stability and no longer require IMF financial assistance. But many of these countries still seek
the IMF's advice, and the monitoring and endorsement of their economic policies that comes
with it. To help these countries, the IMF has created a program for policy support and signaling,
called the Policy Support Instrument.
Debt relief
In addition to concessional loans, some low-income countries are also eligible for debts to be
written off under two key initiatives.

Country Representation
Unlike the General Assembly of the United Nations, where each country has one vote, decision
making at the IMF was designed to reflect the position of each member country in the global
economy. Each IMF member country is assigned a quota that determines its financial
commitment to the IMF, as well as its voting power.
To be effective, the IMF must be seen as representing the interests of all of its 187 member
countries, from its smallest shareholder Tuvalu, to its largest, the United States.

Accountability
The IMF is accountable to its 188 member governments, and is also scrutinized by multiple
stakeholders, from political leaders and officials to, the media, civil society, academia, and its
own internal watchdog. The IMF, in turn, encourages its own members to be as open as possible
about their economic policies to encourage their accountability and transparency.

Collaborating with others

The IMF works with other international organizations to promote growth and poverty reduction. It also
interacts with think tanks, civil society, and the media on a daily basis.

The IMF collaborates with the World Bank, regional development banks, the World Trade
Organization(WTO), UN agencies, and other international bodies. While all of these
organizations are involved in global economic issues, each has its own unique areas of
responsibility and specialization. The IMF also works closely with the Group of Twenty (G-20)
industrialized and emerging market economies and interacts with think tanks, civil society, and
the media on a daily basis.
Working with the World Bank
The IMF and the World Bank are different, but complement each other's work. While the IMF's
focus is chiefly on macroeconomic and financial sector issues, the World Bank is concerned
mainly with longer-term development and poverty reduction. Its loans finance infrastructure
projects, the reform of particular sectors of the economy, and broader structural reforms. IMF
loans assist countries in continuing to pay for imports, stabilizing their currencies, and restoring
conditions for strong economic growth. Countries must join the IMF to be eligible for World
Bank membership.
Given the World Bank's focus on antipoverty issues, the IMF collaborates closely with the Bank
in the area of poverty reduction. Other areas of collaboration include assessments of member
countries' financial sectors, development of standards and codes, and improvement of the
quality, availability, and coverage of data on external debt.
Cooperating on financial stability, banking supervision, and trade
The IMF is a member of the Switzerland-based Financial Stability Board, which brings together
government officials responsible for financial stability in the major international financial
centers, international regulatory and supervisory bodies, committees of central bank experts,
and international financial institutions. It also works with standard-setting bodies such as
the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision and the International Association of Insurance
Supervisors.
The IMF has observer status at formal meetings of the World Trade Organization (WTO). The
IMF's determination of a country's balance of payments situation plays a considerable part in
the WTO's assessment of trade restrictions applied in the event of balances of payments
difficulties. The IMF is also involved in the WTO-led Integrated Framework for Trade-Related
Technical Assistance to Least Developed Countries, and IMF staff contribute to the work of the
WTO Working Group on Trade, Debt, and Finance.
Collaborating with the UN
The IMF has a Special Representative to the United Nations, located at the UN Headquarters in
New York. Collaboration between the IMF and the UN covers several areas of mutual interest,
including cooperation on tax issues and statistical services of the two organizations, as well as
reciprocal attendance and participation at regular meetings and specific conferences and
events. In recent years, the IMF has worked with the International Labor Office on issues
related to employment, as well as social protection floors; the UN Children's Fund on fiscal
issues and social policy; the UN Environment Program on the green economy; and the World
Food Program on social safety nets and early assessments of vulnerability.
Working closely with the G-20
Increasingly, the IMF has been working with the Group of Twenty (G-20) industrialized and
emerging market economies. During the global financial crisis, collective action by the G-20 was

critical for avoiding even greater economic difficulties, and in subsequent meetings the G-20
leaders have continued to reaffirm their commitment to reinvigorate economic growth. The IMF
provides analysis on global economic conditions and on how G-20 members' policies fit together
and whether, collectively, they can achieve the Group's goals.
Working on employment issues
The IMF's mandate includes contributing to the promotion and maintenance of high levels of
employment and real incomes through the expansion and balanced growth of international
trade. Given the importance of employment for sustainable and inclusive growth, IMF-supported
programs often contain recommendations pertaining to the labor market. That said, labor
market policies are not a core area of IMF expertise. For this reason, the Fund works with other
international, regional, and local organizations in this important area. We have an active
partnership with the International Labor Organization (ILO), with whom we have been pooling
expertise to better understand the impact of macroeconomic policies on job creation.
The IMF also liaises regularly with the International Trade Union Confederation, and its affiliates.
Finally, IMF missions to member countries meet regularly with trade union representatives to
gain a better understanding of and exchange views on national labor market dynamics.
Engaging with think tanks, civil society, and the media
The IMF also engages on a regular basis with the academic community, civil society
organizations (CSOs), and the media.
IMF staff at all levels frequently meet with members of the academic community to exchange
ideas and receive new input. The IMF also has an active outreach programinvolving CSOs.
IMF management and senior staff communicate with the media on a daily basis. Additionally, a
biweekly press briefing is held at the IMF headquarters, during which a spokesperson takes live
questions from journalists.