source: http://www.imf.org/external/about/overview.htm

1. Overview

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.

1.1 What we do

Highlights of this section:

Key IMF Activities Original Aims Adapting to Change

With its near-global membership of 186 countries, the IMF is uniquely placed to help member governments take advantage of the opportunities—and manage the challenges—posed by globalization and economic development more generally. 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.

Marked by massive movements of capital and abrupt shifts in comparative advantage, globalization affects countries' policy choices in many areas, including labor, trade, and tax policies. Helping a country benefit from globalization while avoiding potential downsides is an important task for the IMF. The global economic crisis has highlighted just how interconnected countries have become in today’s world economy.

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.

Original aims

The IMF was founded more than 60 years ago toward the end of World War II (see History). The founders aimed to build a framework for economic cooperation that would avoid a repetition of the disastrous economic policies that had contributed to the Great Depression of the 1930s and the global conflict that followed.

Since then the world has changed dramatically, bringing extensive prosperity and lifting millions out of poverty, especially in Asia. In many ways the IMF's main purpose—to provide the global public good of financial stability—is the same today as it was when the organization was established. More specifically, the IMF continues to

provide a forum for cooperation on international monetary problems facilitate the growth of international trade, thus promoting job creation, economic growth,

and poverty reduction; promote exchange rate stability and an open system of international payments; and lend countries foreign exchange when needed, on a temporary basis and under adequate

safeguards, to help them address balance of payments problems.

The IMF's way of operating has changed over the years and has undergone rapid change since the beginning of the 1990s as it has sought to adapt to the changing needs of its expanding membership in an globalized world economy. Most recently, the IMF's Managing Director, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, has launched an ambitious reform agenda, aimed at making sure the IMF continues to deliver the economic analysis and multilateral consultation that is at the core of its mission—ensuring the stability of the global monetary system.

An adapting IMF

With cross-border financial flows increasing sharply in recent decades, the interdependence of countries has deepened (see slideshow on capital inflows). The turbulence in advanced economy credit markets in 2007-08 has demonstrated that domestic and international financial stability cannot be taken for granted, even in the world's wealthiest countries. The spike in food and fuel prices, which has hit import-dependent poor and middle-income countries particularly hard, is another aspect of the globalized economy we all are part of.

In response, the IMF has rethought its operations in several ways:

Enhancing IMF lending facilities. The IMF has upgraded its lending facilities to enable it to better serve its members. It has created a new Short-Term Liquidity Facility designed to help emerging market countries with a track record of sound policies address fallout from the current financial crisis. To make its financial support more flexible and tailored to the diversity of low-income countries, it has established a new Poverty Reduction and Growth Trust, which has three new lending windows. As part of a wide-ranging reform of its lending practices, the IMF has also redefined the way it engages with countries on issues related to structural reform of the economy. (See Lending).

Strengthening the monitoring of global, regional, and country economies. The IMF has taken several steps to improve economic and financial surveillance, which is its framework for providing advice to member countries on macroeconomic policies (see Our Work). It is emphasizing research into the links between the financial sector and the real economy and the sharing of cross-country experiences. It has published new guidance on how to analyze and advise on exchange rates, and is paying more attention to the impact of the world's most important economies on other countries' economies. And it is improving its ability to warn member countries of risks and vulnerabilities in their economies.

Helping resolve global economic imbalances. The IMF's analysis of global economic developments, contained in its World Economic Outlook, provide finance ministers and central bank governors with a common framework for discussing the global economy. The IMF now also has the ability to call for multilateral consultations to discuss specific problems facing the global economy with a select group of countries—an innovative way of facilitating collective action among key players in the global economy. The first such consultation took place in 2006. It sought to reduce global payments imbalances and involved China, the euro area, Japan, Saudi Arabia, and the United States (see Tackling Current Challenges).

Analyzing capital market developments.The IMF is devoting more resources to the analysis of global financial markets and their linkages with macroeconomic policy. Twice a year, it publishes the Global Financial Stability Report, which provides up-to-date analysis of developments in global financial markets. IMF staff also work with member countries to help them identify potential risks to financial stability, including through the Financial Sector Assessment Program (described in more detail below). The IMF also offers training to country officials on how to manage their financial systems, monetary and exchange regimes, and capital markets. The IMF is currently facilitating the drafting of voluntary guidelines for Sovereign Wealth Funds and works closely with the Financial Stability Board to promote international financial stability.

Assessing financial sector vulnerabilities.Resilient, well-regulated financial systems are essential for macroeconomic stability in a world of ever-growing capital flows. The IMF and the World Bank jointly run the Financial Sector Assessment Program, aimed at alerting countries to vulnerabilities and risks in their financial sectors. IMF and World Bank staff also advise on how to strengthen oversight and supervision of banks and other financial institutions.

Working to cut poverty. At present, more than a billion people are living on less than $1 a day, and more than three-quarters of a billion people are malnourished. The IMF's role in low-income countries is changing as these countries grow and mature. But its central goal remains the same: to help promote economic stability and growth, laying the ground work for deep and lasting poverty reduction. Its current main priority is to help low- and middle-income countries cope with the adverse effects of the global economic crisis. To that effect, it is stepping up lending to low-income countries to combat the impact of the global recession.

Improving IMF governance. In May 2008, the IMF's membership approved a two-year package of reforms to improve representation of members at the Fund. For the IMF to be fully effective in its role, it must be perceived as representing all countries in a fair manner. With that in mind, governance reform is being accelerated to ensure a decision-

making structure that reflects current global realities. The IMF is also becoming leaner and more efficient. It is trimming expenditures and reorganizing the way it earns revenue to pay for its operations (See Governance).

Greater accountability and transparency. The IMF publishes almost all of its annual economic health checks of member countries, updates about its lending programs, and a wealth of other information on its website. The IMF's performance is assessed on a regular basis by an Independent Evaluation Office.

1.2 How we do it

Highlights of this section:

Economic and Financial Surveillance Technical Assistance and Training IMF Lending Research and Data

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. 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 IMF's 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 basis—usually once each year—the IMF conducts in depth appraisals of each member country's economic situation. It discusses with the country's authorities the policies that are most conducive to a stable and prosperous economy. Consistent with the decision on bilateral surveillance adopted in June 2007, the main focus of the discussions is whether there are risks to the economy’s domestic and external stability that would argue for adjustments in economic or financial policies.

Member countries may agree to publish the IMF's assessment of their economies, with the vast majority of countries opting to do so.

The IMF also has the option to bring together, on an as-needed basis, groups of systemically relevant economies to address issues of broad importance to the global economy. These meetings are called multilateral consultations. A consultation on how to reduce global imbalances took place in 2006-07.

The IMF's work on individual countries informs its work on regional economies and the global economy. These views, along with timely analysis of important economic and financial issues, are published twice a year in the World Economic Outlook, various Regional Economic Outlook reports, and the Global Financial Stability Report.

The IMF works with the World Bank to promote resilient financial systems around the world through the joint Financial Sector Assessment Program (FSAP). Supported by experts from a range of national agencies and standard-setting bodies, IMF and World Bank staff assess the stability of a country’s financial system by identifying its strengths and vulnerabilities, determine how key sources of risks are being managed, ascertain the sector's developmental needs, and help prioritize policy responses.

For more information on how the IMF monitors economies, go to Surveillance in the Our Work section.

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 Economic and financial legislation.

For more on technical assistance, go to Technical Assistance in the Our Work section or read an Issues Brief on the subject.

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. A policy program supported by financing is designed by the national authorities in close cooperation with the IMF. Continued financial support is conditional on the effective implementation of this program.

The IMF also provides low-income countries with loans at a concessional interest rate through the Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility (PRGF) and the Exogenous Shocks Facility (ESF). 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 IMF's economic and financial research and statistics. 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 IMF's continuing efforts to strengthen the international financial system and improve its ability to prevent and resolve crises.

exchange rate adjustments are unlikely. The IMF's focus is therefore on macroeconomic and financial policies as well as on developments in exchange rates, the balance of payments, the real economy, and the financial sector; and

analyzing the impact of countries' policies on others; applying lessons from cross-country experience to each country's unique situation; and providing a forum for international cooperation on global economic and financial problems.

The IMF's main business

The IMF's job is to promote a stable international monetary system, in which member countries can achieve high rates of employment, low inflation, and sustainable economic growth. The IMF does this by

overseeing the international monetary system by regularly reviewing global and regional economic and financial developments;

providing economic monitoring and policy advice to its 186 member countries in the areas most relevant to domestic and external stability, that is, a situation where disruptive exchange rate adjustments are unlikely. The IMF's focus is therefore on macroeconomic and financial policies as well as on developments in exchange rates, the balance of payments, the real economy, and the financial sector; and

analyzing the impact of countries' policies on others; applying lessons from cross-country experience to each country's unique situation; and providing a forum for international cooperation on global economic and financial problems.

1.3 Membership

Highlights of this section:

Number of Members How Countries Become Members What Is a Quota and How Is It Determined? The Functions of Quota

The IMF currently has a near-global membership of 186 countries. To become a member, a country must apply and then be accepted by a majority of the existing members. In June 2009,

the former Yugoslav republic of Kosovo joined the IMF, becoming the institution's 186th member.

Upon joining, each member of the IMF is assigned a quota, based broadly on its relative size in the world economy. The IMF's membership agreed in May 2008 on a rebalancing of its quota system  to reflect the changing global economic realities, especially the increased weight of major emerging markets in the global economy. For more on the quota and voice reform, please go to the section on Country Representation in the Governance section).

A member's quota delineates basic aspects of its financial and organizational relationship with the IMF, including:

Subscriptions. A member's quota subscription determines the maximum amount of financial resources the member is obliged to provide to the IMF. A member 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 has 250 basic votes plus one additional vote for each SDR 100,000 of quota. Accordingly, the United States has 371,743 votes (16.77 percent of the total), and Palau has 281 votes (0.01 percent of the total). The newly agreed quota and voice reform will result in a significant shift in the representation of dynamic economies, many of which are emerging market countries, through a quota increase for 54 member countries. A tripling of the number of basic votes is also envisaged as a means to give poorer countries a greater say in running the institution.

Access to financing. The amount of financing a member can obtain from the IMF (its access limit) is based on its quota. Under Stand-By and Extended Arrangements, which are types of loans, a member can borrow up to 200 percent of its quota annually and 600 percent cumulatively. However, access may be higher in exceptional circumstances.

SDR allocations. Allocations of SDRs, the IMF's unit of account, is used as an international reserve asset. A member's share of general SDR allocations is established in proportion to its quota. The most recent general allocation of SDRs took place in 2009.

1.4 Collaborating with others

Highlights of this section:

Working with the World Bank Cooperating with the UN and Other Agencies Engaging with Think Tanks, Civil Society, and the Media

The IMF collaborates with the World Bank, the 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 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. Whereas 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. 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 and helping countries draw up poverty reduction strategies. 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.

An external review committee on World Bank and IMF collaboration was formed in March 2006 to assess the working relationship between the two sister agencies, known collectively as the Bretton Woods institutions. In its February 2007 report, the six-member Malan committee offered recommendations for closer collaboration between the two institutions. This led to the institutions’ adoption of a Joint Management Action Plan, under which, IMF and World Bank country teams discuss their country-level work programs, the division of labor, and the work needed from each insititution in the coming year. Also the Bank and Fund have improved their information sharing at the country level, including technical assistance reports.

Cooperating with other international organizations

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 collaborates with the World Trade Organization (WTO) both formally and informally. The IMF has observer status at WTO meetings and IMF staff contribute to the work of the WTO Working Group on Trade, Debt, and Finance. And the IMF is involved in the WTO-led Integrated Framework for Trade-Related Technical Assistance to Least Developed Countries, whose other members are the International Trade Commission, UNCTAD, UNDP, and the World Bank.

The IMF has a Special Representative to the United Nations, located at the UN Headquarters in New York. The Special Representative facilitates the liaison between the IMF and the UN

system. The general arrangements for collaboration and consultations between the IMF and the UN include areas of mutual interest, such as cooperation between the statistical services of the two organizations, and reciprocal attendance and participation at events.

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 program involving 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.

2. 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.

2.1 Management

Highlights of this section:

Managing Director: Duties and Selection The Current Management Team

The IMF is led by a Managing Director, who is head of the staff and Chairman of the Executive Board. He is assisted by a First Deputy Managing Director and two other Deputy Managing Directors. The Management team oversees the work of the staff, and maintain high-level contacts with member governments, the media, non-governmental organizations, think tanks, and other institutions.

Managing Director: Duties and selection

According to the IMF's Articles of Agreement, 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."

The IMF's Executive Board is responsible for selecting the Managing Director. Any Executive Director may submit a nomination for the position, consistent with past practice. When more than one candidate is nominated, as has been the case in recent years, the Executive Board aims to reach a decision by consensus.

The current management team

Dominique Strauss-Kahn, a French national, became the IMF's tenth Managing Director in November 2007. Previously, he was the Finance Minister of France during 1997-99.

John Lipsky, an American, has been First Deputy Managing Director since September 2006. Before coming to the IMF, he worked for JPMorgan Investment Bank.

Takatoshi Kato, a Japanese national, became Deputy Managing Director of the IMF in February 2004. Previously, he advised the president of Tokyo-Mitsubishi Bank.

Murilo Portugal, from Brazil, became Deputy Managing Director of the IMF in December 2006. From 2005 to 2006, he was Brazil's Deputy Minister of Finance.

2.2 Staff of international civil servants

Highlights of this section:

Functional Departments Area Departments Information, Liaison, and Support Departments IMF Offices Around the World

The IMF currently employs about 2,400 staff, half of whom are economists. Most of them work at the IMF's Washington, D.C., headquarters but a few serve in member countries around the world in small IMF overseas offices or as resident representatives.

With its nearly universal membership, the IMF strives to employ a staff that is as diverse and broadly based geographically as possible.

The IMF has eight functional departments that carry out its policy, analytical, and technical work and manage its financial resources.

Finance Department: Mobilizes, manages, and safeguards the IMF's financial resources.

Fiscal Affairs Department: Provides policy and technical advice on public finance issues to member countries.

Monetary and Capital Markets Department: Monitors financial sectors and capital markets, and monetary and foreign exchange systems, arrangements, and operations. Prepares the Global Financial Stability Report.

Legal Department. Advises management, the Executive Board, and the staff on the applicable rules of law. Prepares decisions and other legal instruments and provides technical assistance to member countries.

Strategy, Policy, and Review Department: Designs, implements, and evaluates IMF policies on surveillance and the use of its financial resources.

Research Department: Monitors the global economy and the economies and policies of member countries and undertakes research on issues relevant to the IMF. Prepares the World Economic Outlook. 

Statistics Department: Develops internationally accepted methodologies and standards. Provides technical assistance and training to promote best practices in the dissemination of economic and financial statistics.

IMF Institute: Provides training in macroeconomic analysis and policy for officials of member countries and IMF staff.

The IMF's five area, or regional, departments are responsible for advising member countries on macroeconomic polices and the financial sector, and for putting together, when needed, financial arrangements to support economic reform programs.

The IMF also has four support departments:

External Relations Department: Works to promote public understanding of and support for the IMF and its policies.

Technology and General Services Department: Provides services to manage information; facilitates communication, including across languages; and helps build an effective work environment.

Secretary's Department: Organizes and reports on the activities of the IMF's governing bodies and provides secretariat services to them. Assists management in preparing the work program of the Executive Board and other official bodies. It is the creator and custodian of IMF records.

Human Resources Department: Provides staff with a full range of information and personnel services. Manages the system of compensation and benefits, oversees staff training, offers career and education counseling, and provides legal services.

IMF offices around the world

The IMF has small offices in countries around the world. These comprise resident representative posts; overseas offices (Guatemala City, New York, Paris, Tokyo, Warsaw); and regional technical assistance centers and training institutes.

Organizational Chart

2.3 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. 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.

Under a quota and voice reform approved in April 2008, the IMF's member countries agreed that the quotas of dynamic economies, many of which are emerging market countries, should be increased. They also agreed that future reviews should consider adjustments to quotas to ensure that members' quota shares reflect their relative positions in the world economy. As of end-August 2009, IMF's total quotas stood at SDR 217.4 billion (about $325 billion).

Quotas are reviewed every five years and can be increased when deemed necessary by the Board of Governors. At the conclusion of the Thirteenth General Review in 2008, it was determined that no general quota increase was necessary.

In 2009, the G-20 agreed that the Fund should bring forward the timetable for the next general quota increase. The next general review was originally scheduled to be completed by 2013. The agreement now is that it would be completed by January 2011, two years ahead of schedule. The general quota review provides an opportunity to increase the Fund’s general resources and would also provide scope for a further rebalancing of quota and voting shares toward dynamic emerging markets and other economies.

3. History

The IMF has played a part in shaping the global economy since the end of World War II.

3.1 Cooperation and reconstruction (1944–71)

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 sharply (see chart below), 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 system—the 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.

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.

Par value system

The countries that joined the IMF between 1945 and 1971 agreed to keep their exchange rates (the value of their currencies in terms of the U.S. dollar and, in the case of the United States, the value of the dollar in terms of gold) pegged at rates that could be adjusted only to correct a "fundamental disequilibrium" in the balance of payments, and only with the IMF's agreement. This par value system—also known as the Bretton Woods system—prevailed until 1971, when the U.S. government suspended the convertibility of the dollar (and dollar reserves held by other governments) into gold.

3.2 The end of the Bretton Woods System (1972–81)

By the early 1960s, the U.S. dollar's fixed value against gold, under the Bretton Woods system of fixed exchange rates, was seen as overvalued. A sizable increase in domestic spending on

President Lyndon Johnson's Great Society programs and a rise in military spending caused by the Vietnam War gradually worsened the overvaluation of the dollar.

End of Bretton Woods system

The system dissolved between 1968 and 1973. In August 1971, U.S. President Richard Nixon announced the "temporary" suspension of the dollar's convertibility into gold. While the dollar had struggled throughout most of the 1960s within the parity established at Bretton Woods, this crisis marked the breakdown of the system. An attempt to revive the fixed exchange rates failed, and by March 1973 the major currencies began to float against each other.

Since the collapse of the Bretton Woods system, IMF members have been free to choose any form of exchange arrangement they wish (except pegging their currency to gold): allowing the currency to float freely, pegging it to another currency or a basket of currencies, adopting the currency of another country, participating in a currency bloc, or forming part of a monetary union.

Oil shocks

Many feared that the collapse of the Bretton Woods system would bring the period of rapid growth to an end. In fact, the transition to floating exchange rates was relatively smooth, and it was certainly timely: flexible exchange rates made it easier for economies to adjust to more expensive oil, when the price suddenly started going up in October 1973. Floating rates have facilitated adjustments to external shocks ever since.

The IMF responded to the challenges created by the oil price shocks of the 1970s by adapting its lending instruments. To help oil importers deal with anticipated current account deficits and inflation in the face of higher oil prices, it set up the first of two oil facilities.

Helping poor countries

From the mid-1970s, the IMF sought to respond to the balance of payments difficulties confronting many of the world's poorest countries by providing concessional financing through what was known as the Trust Fund. In March 1986, the IMF created a new concessional loan program called the Structural Adjustment Facility. The SAF was succeeded by the Enhanced Structural Adjustment Facility in December 1987.

3.3 Debt and painful reforms (1982–89)

The oil shocks of the 1970s, which forced many oil-importing countries to borrow from commercial banks, and the interest rate increases in industrial countries trying to control inflation led to an international debt crisis.

During the 1970s, Western commercial banks lent billions of "recycled" petrodollars, getting deposits from oil exporters and lending those resources to oil-importing and developing countries, usually at variable, or floating, interest rates. So when interest rates began to soar in

1979, the floating rates on developing countries' loans also shot up. Higher interest payments are estimated to have cost the non-oil-producing developing countries at least $22 billion during 1978–81. At the same time, the price of commodities from developing countries slumped because of the recession brought about by monetary policies. Many times, the response by developing countries to those shocks included expansionary fiscal policies and overvalued exchange rates, sustained by further massive borrowings.

When a crisis broke out in Mexico in 1982, the IMF coordinated the global response, even engaging the commercial banks. It realized that nobody would benefit if country after country failed to repay its debts.

The IMF's initiatives calmed the initial panic and defused its explosive potential. But a long road of painful reform in the debtor countries, and additional cooperative global measures, would be necessary to eliminate the problem.

3.4 Societal Change for Eastern Europe and Asian Upheaval (1990-2004)

The fall of the Berlin wall in 1989 and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 enabled the IMF to become a (nearly) universal institution. In three years, membership increased from 152 countries to 172, the most rapid increase since the influx of African members in the 1960s.

In order to fulfill its new responsibilities, the IMF's staff expanded by nearly 30 percent in six years. The Executive Board increased from 22 seats to 24 to accommodate Directors from Russia and Switzerland, and some existing Directors saw their constituencies expand by several countries.

The IMF played a central role in helping the countries of the former Soviet bloc transition from central planning to market-driven economies. This kind of economic transformation had never before been attempted, and sometimes the process was less than smooth. For most of the 1990s, these countries worked closely with the IMF, benefiting from its policy advice, technical assistance, and financial support.

By the end of the decade, most economies in transition had successfully graduated to market economy status after several years of intense reforms, with many joining the European Union in 2004.

Asian Financial Crisis

In 1997, a wave of financial crises swept over East Asia, from Thailand to Indonesia to Korea and beyond. Almost every affected country asked the IMF for both financial assistance and for help in reforming economic policies. Conflicts arose on how best to cope with the crisis, and the IMF came under criticism that was more intense and widespread than at any other time in its history.

From this experience, the IMF drew several lessons that would alter its responses to future events. First, it realized that it would have to pay much more attention to weaknesses in

countries’ banking sectors and to the effects of those weaknesses on macroeconomic stability. In 1999, the IMF—together with the World Bank—launched the Financial Sector Assessment Program and began conducting national assessments on a voluntary basis. Second, the Fund realized that the institutional prerequisites for successful liberalization of international capital flows were more daunting than it had previously thought. Along with the economics profession generally, the IMF dampened its enthusiasm for capital account liberalization. Third, the severity of the contraction in economic activity that accompanied the Asian crisis necessitated a re-evaluation of how fiscal policy should be adjusted when a crisis was precipitated by a sudden stop in financial inflows.

Debt relief for poor countries

During the 1990s, the IMF worked closely with the World Bank to alleviate the debt burdens of poor countries. The Initiative for Heavily Indebted Poor Countries was launched in 1996, with the aim of ensuring that no poor country faces a debt burden it cannot manage. In 2005, to help accelerate progress toward the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), the HIPC Initiative was supplemented by the Multilateral Debt Relief Initiative (MDRI).

3.5 Globalization and the Crisis (2005 - present)

The IMF has been on the front lines of lending to countries to help boost the global economy as it suffers from a deep crisis not seen since the Great Depression.

For most of the first decade of the 21st century, international capital flows fueled a global expansion that enabled many countries to repay money they had borrowed from the IMF and other official creditors and to accumulate foreign exchange reserves.

The global economic crisis that began with the collapse of mortgage lending in the United States in 2007, and spread around the world in 2008 was preceded by large imbalances in global capital flows.

Global capital flows fluctuated between 2 and 6 percent of world GDP during 1980-95, but since then they have risen to 15 percent of GDP. In 2006, they totaled $7.2 trillion—more than a tripling since 1995. The most rapid increase has been experienced by advanced economies, but emerging markets and developing countries have also become more financially integrated.

The founders of the Bretton Woods system had taken it for granted that private capital flows would never again resume the prominent role they had in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and the IMF had traditionally lent to members facing current account difficulties.

The latest global crisis uncovered a fragility in the advanced financial markets that soon led to the worst global downturn since the Great Depression. Suddenly, the IMF was inundated with requests for stand-by arrangements and other forms of financial and policy support.

The international community recognized that the IMF’s financial resources were as important as ever and were likely to be stretched thin before the crisis was over. With broad support from

creditor countries, the Fund’s lending capacity was tripled to around $750 billion. To use those funds effectively, the IMF overhauled its lending policies, including by creating a flexible credit line for countries with strong economic fundamentals and a track record of successful policy implementation. Other reforms, including ones tailored to help low-income countries, enabled the IMF to disburse very large sums quickly, based on the needs of borrowing countries and not tightly constrained by quotas, as in the past.

For more on the ideas that have shaped the IMF from its inception until the late 1990s, take a look at James Boughton's "The IMF and the Force of History: Ten Events and Ten Ideas that Have Shaped the Institution."