3. OverviewOverview
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.
The IMF works to foster global growth and
economic stability. It provides policy advice and
financing to members in economic difficulties and
also works with developing nations to help them
achieve macroeconomic stability and reduce
poverty.
4. OverviewOverview
With its global membership of 188countries, the IMF is uniquely
placed to help member governments take advantage of the
opportunities—and manage the challenges—posed by globalization
The IMF tracks global economic trends and performance, alerts its
member countries when it sees problems on the horizon, provides a
forum for policy dialogue, and passes on know-how to governments
on how to tackle economic difficulties
The IMF provides policy advice and financing to members in
economic difficulties and also works with developing nations to help
them achieve macroeconomic stability and reduce poverty
5. FAST FACTSFAST FACTS
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Membership: 188 countries
•
Headquarters: Washington, D.C.
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Executive Board: 24 Directors representing countries or groups of countries
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Staff: Approximately 2,470 from 141 countries
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Total Quotas : US$ 383 billion
•
Biggest Borrowers : Greece , Portugal ,Ireland (as of 18/08/2011)
•
The members of the IMF are 186 members of the UN (all UN member states but 7) and Republic of
Kosovo.
•
Apart from Cuba, the other six member states of the UN not belonging to the IMF are: North
Korea, Andorra, Monaco, Liechtenstein, Nauru and South Sudan.
6. Key IMF ActivitiesKey IMF Activities
The IMF supports its membership by providing:
I. policy advice to governments and central banks based on analysis of
economic trends and cross-country experiences;
II. research, statistics, forecasts, and analysis based on tracking of
global, regional, and individual economies and markets;
III. loans to help countries overcome economic difficulties;
IV. concessional loans to help fight poverty in developing countries; and
V. technical assistance and training to help countries improve the
management of their economies.
7. IMF FunctionsIMF Functions
The IMF's 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.
I. Economic and Financial 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.
II. 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.
I. IMF Lending: In the event that member countries experience difficulties financing their
balance of payments, the IMF is also a fund that can be tapped to facilitate recovery.
II. Research and Data : Supporting all three of these activities is the IMF's economic and
financial research and statistics.
8. Objectives of IMFObjectives of IMF
I. To promote international monetary cooperation
II. To facilitate the expansion and balanced growth of
International Trade
III. To promote exchange rate stability
IV. To make its resources available to its members who
are experiencing BOP problems
V. To establish a multilateral system of payments
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9. MembershipMembership
I. The IMF currently has a near-global membership of 188
countries. To become a member, a country must apply
and then be accepted by a majority of the existing
members.
II. Upon joining, each member of the IMF is assigned a
quota, based broadly on its relative size in the world
economy.
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10. Special Drawing Rights (SDR)Special Drawing Rights (SDR)
•
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:
1. Through the arrangement of voluntary exchanges between members
2. By the IMF designating members with strong external positions to purchase SDRs
from members with weak external positions.
•
SDR also serves as the unit of account of the IMF and some other international
organizations.
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12. Governance StructureGovernance Structure
The Board of Governors is the highest decision-making body of the
IMF. It consists of one governor and one alternate governor for each
member country. The governor is appointed by the member country
and is usually the minister of finance or the head of the central
bank.
While the Board of Governors has delegated most of its powers to
the IMF's Executive Board, it retains the right to approve quota
increases, special drawing right (SDR) allocations, the admittance of
new members, compulsory withdrawal of members, and
amendments to the Articles of Agreement and By-Laws. It also
elects or appoints executive directors
The Boards of Governors of the IMF and the World Bank Group
normally meet once a year
13. Governance StructureGovernance Structure
Ministerial Committees: The IMF Board of Governors is
advised by two ministerial committees, the
International Monetary and Financial Committee (IMFC) and the
Development Committee.
The IMFC has 24 members, drawn from the pool of 186
governors
The Executive Board: The IMF's 24-member Executive Board
takes care of the daily business of the IMF. Together, these
24 board members represent all 186 countries.
14. FinancesFinances
Quotas:
The IMF's resources come mainly from the money that countries pay as
their capital subscription when they become members.
Quotas broadly reflect the size of each member's 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. 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).
Gold:
The IMF holds a relatively large amount of gold among its assets, for
reasons of financial soundness, also to meet unforeseen contingencies.
The IMF holds 103.4 million ounces (3,217 metric tons) of gold, worth
about $83 billion as of end-August 2009, making it the third-largest official
holder of gold in the world.
15. IMF AND INDIAIMF AND INDIA
India is a founder member of IMF. EarlierIndia is a founder member of IMF. Earlier
India was made a permanent ExecutiveIndia was made a permanent Executive
Director of the Board of Directors.Director of the Board of Directors.
At present India is no longer a permanentAt present India is no longer a permanent
director. India is now an elected member ofdirector. India is now an elected member of
IMF.IMF.
India’s rank is 13India’s rank is 13thth
among 185 memberamong 185 member
nations.nations.
16. ADVNANTAGES FROM MEMBERSHIP OF IMF TOADVNANTAGES FROM MEMBERSHIP OF IMF TO
INDIAINDIA
1) Facility of Foreign Exchange1) Facility of Foreign Exchange
2) Freedom from British Pound2) Freedom from British Pound
3) Membership of the World Bank3) Membership of the World Bank
4) Importance of India in International4) Importance of India in International
SectorSector
5) Economic Consultation5) Economic Consultation
17. 6) Help during Emergency6) Help during Emergency
7) Financial help for five Year Plans7) Financial help for five Year Plans
8) Help in Foreign Exchange Crisis8) Help in Foreign Exchange Crisis
18. The IMF works to foster global growth and economic stability. It
provides policy advice and financing to members in economic
difficulties and also works with developing nations to help them
achieve macroeconomic stability and reduce poverty
CONCLUSION
