The history of the emergence of the international monetary fund. International Monetary Fund (IMF). Cooperation between the Bank of Russia and the IMF

International Monetary Fund, IMF International Monetary Fund, IMF) - specialized institution UN, headquartered in Washington, USA.

At the United Nations Bretton Woods Conference on Monetary and Financial Affairs on July 22, 1944, the framework for the agreement was developed ( IMF Charter). The most significant contributions to the development of the IMF concept were made by John Maynard Keynes, who headed the British delegation, and Harry Dexter White, a senior official at the US Treasury Department. The final version of the agreement was signed by the first 29 states on December 27, 1945 - official date creation of the IMF. The IMF began operations on March 1, 1947, as part of the Bretton Woods system. In the same year, France took out its first loan. Currently, the IMF unites 188 countries, and its structures employ 2,500 people from 133 countries.

The IMF provides short- and medium-term loans when there is a government balance of payments deficit. The provision of loans is usually accompanied by a set of conditions and recommendations.

IMF policies and recommendations regarding developing countries have been repeatedly criticized, the essence of which is that the implementation of recommendations and conditions are ultimately not aimed at increasing independence, stability and development national economy state, but only to tie it to international financial flows. Among the managing directors of the IMF were: a Spaniard, a Dutchman, a German, 2 Swedes, 6 French.

In accordance with Article 1 of the agreement, the IMF sets itself the following goals:

• Promote the development of international cooperation in the monetary and financial field within the framework of a permanent institution providing a mechanism for consultation and collaboration over international monetary and financial problems.
• Promote expansion and balanced growth international trade and thereby contribute to the achievement and maintenance high level employment and real incomes, as well as the development of the productive resources of all Member States, considering these actions as the primary objectives of economic policy.
• Maintain currency stability and an orderly exchange rate regime among member states, and avoid devaluation of currencies in order to gain competitive advantage.
• Assist in the establishment of a multilateral current account settlement system among member countries, as well as in the removal of foreign exchange restrictions that impede the growth of world trade.
• By temporarily making the general resources of the fund available to member countries, subject to adequate safeguards, to provide them with a state of confidence, thereby ensuring that imbalances in their balance of payments can be corrected without resorting to measures that could be detrimental to welfare at the national or international level.
• In accordance with the above, reduce the duration of imbalances in the external balances of payments of member states, as well as reduce the scale of these imbalances.

Structure of governing bodies

The highest governing body of the IMF is Board of Governors(English) Board of Governors), in which each member country is represented by a governor and his deputy. These are usually finance ministers or central bankers. The Council is responsible for resolving key issues of the Fund’s activities: amending the Articles of Agreement, admitting and expelling member countries, determining and revising their shares in the capital, and electing executive directors. Governors usually meet in session once a year, but may hold meetings and vote by mail at any time. The authorized capital is about 217 billion SDR. SDR (Special Drawing Rights, SDR, SDRs) or Special Drawing Rights (SDR), is an artificial reserve and means of payment issued by the IMF. As of January 2008, 1 SDR was equal to approximately 1.5 US dollars. It is formed by contributions from member states, each of which usually pays approximately 25% of its quota in SDRs or in the currencies of other members, and the remaining 75% in its own national currency. Based on the size of quotas, votes are distributed among member countries in governing bodies IMF.

• The Executive Board, which sets policy and is responsible for most decisions, consists of 24 executive directors. Directors are appointed by the eight countries with the largest quotas in the Fund - the United States, Japan, Germany, France, the United Kingdom, China, Russia and Saudi Arabia. The remaining 176 countries are organized into 16 groups, each of which elects an executive director. An example of such a group of countries is the unification of the countries of the former Central Asian republics of the USSR under the leadership of Switzerland, which was called Helvetistan. Often groups are formed by countries with similar interests and usually from the same region, such as French-speaking countries in Africa.

The most big amount votes in the IMF (as of June 16, 2006]) are held by: USA - 17.08% (16.407% - 2011); Germany - 5.99%; Japan - 6.13% (6.46% - 2011); Great Britain - 4.95%; France - 4.95%; Saudi Arabia - 3.22%; China - 2.94% (6.394% - 2011); Russia - 2.74%. The share of 15 EU member countries is 30.3%, 29 member countries of the Organization economic cooperation and Development have a combined 60.35% of votes in the IMF. The share of other countries, making up over 84% of the number of members of the Fund, accounts for only 39.65

The IMF operates on the principle of a “weighted” number of votes: the ability of member countries to influence the Fund’s activities through voting is determined by their share in its capital. Each state has 250 “basic” votes, regardless of the size of its contribution to the capital, and an additional one vote for every 100 thousand SDR of the amount of this contribution. If a country bought (sold) SDRs received during the initial issue of SDRs, the number of its votes increases (decreases) by 1 for every 400 thousand purchased (sold) SDRs. This correction is carried out by no more than? from the number of votes received for the country's contribution to the capital of the Fund. This arrangement ensures a decisive majority of votes for the leading states.

Decisions in the Board of Governors are usually made by a simple majority (at least half) of votes, and on important issues of an operational or strategic nature - by a “special majority” (70 or 85% of the votes of member countries, respectively). Despite some reduction specific gravity US and EU votes, they can still veto key decisions of the Fund, the adoption of which requires a maximum majority (85%). This means that the United States, along with leading Western states have the opportunity to exercise control over the decision-making process in the IMF and direct its activities based on their interests. With coordinated action, developing countries are also able to prevent decisions that do not suit them. However, achieving consistency a large number heterogeneous countries is difficult. At the Fund's April 2004 meeting, the intention was expressed to "enhance the ability of developing countries and countries with economies in transition to participate more effectively in the decision-making machinery of the IMF."

Significant role in organizational structure The IMF plays the International Monetary and Financial Committee (IMFC). From 1974 until September 1999, its predecessor was the Interim Committee on the International Monetary System. It consists of 24 IMF governors, including from Russia, and meets twice a year. This committee is an advisory body of the Board of Governors and has no power to make policy decisions. However, he does important functions: directs the activities of the Executive Council; develops strategic decisions related to the functioning of the global monetary system and the activities of the IMF; submits to the Board of Governors proposals for amendments to the IMF's Articles of Agreement. A similar role is also played by the Development Committee - the Joint Ministerial Committee of the Boards of Governors of the World Bank and the Fund (Joint IMF - World Bank Development Committee).

The Board of Governors delegates many of its powers to the Executive Board, a directorate that is responsible for conducting the affairs of the IMF, which includes a wide range of political, operational and administrative issues, such as providing loans to member countries and overseeing their policies. exchange rate.

The IMF Executive Board elects a Managing Director for a five-year term, who heads the Fund's staff (as of March 2009 - about 2,478 people from 143 countries). Typically it represents one of European countries. Managing Director (since July 5, 2011) is Christine Lagarde (France), her first deputy is John Lipsky (USA).

Basic lending mechanisms

1. Reserve share. The first portion of foreign currency that a member country can purchase from the IMF within 25% of the quota was called “golden” before the Jamaica Agreement, and since 1978 - the reserve share (Reserve Tranche). The reserve share is defined as the excess of the quota of a member country over the amount in the account of the National Currency Fund of that country. If the IMF uses part of a member country's national currency to provide credit to other countries, that country's reserve share increases accordingly. The outstanding amount of loans provided by a member country to the Fund under the loan agreements of the NHS and NHS constitutes its credit position. The reserve share and the lending position together constitute the “reserve position” of an IMF member country.
2. Credit shares. Funds in foreign currency that can be acquired by a member country in excess of the reserve share (if fully used, the IMF's holdings in the country's currency reach 100% of the quota) are divided into four credit shares, or tranches (Credit Tranches), each constituting 25% of the quota . Member countries' access to IMF credit resources within the framework of credit shares is limited: the amount of a country's currency in the IMF's assets cannot exceed 200% of its quota (including 75% of the quota contributed by subscription). Thus, the maximum amount of credit that a country can receive from the Fund as a result of using reserve and credit shares is 125% of its quota. However, the charter gives the IMF the right to suspend this restriction. On this basis, the Fund's resources are in many cases used in amounts exceeding the limit fixed in the charter. Therefore, the concept of “Upper Credit Tranches” began to mean not only 75% of the quota, as in early period activities of the IMF, and amounts exceeding the first credit share.
3. Stand-by loan arrangements Stand-by Arrangements) (since 1952) provide the member country with a guarantee that, up to a certain amount and for the duration of the agreement, subject to compliance with specified conditions, the country can freely receive foreign currency from the IMF in exchange for national currency. This practice of providing loans is the opening of a line of credit. While the use of the first credit share can be carried out in the form of an outright purchase of foreign currency after the Fund approves its request, the allocation of funds for the account of the upper credit shares is usually carried out through arrangements with member countries for reserve credits. From the 50s to the mid-70s, agreements on stand-by loans had a term of up to a year, since 1977 - up to 18 months and even up to 3 years due to the increase in balance of payments deficits.
4. Extended lending mechanism(English) Extended Fund Facility) (since 1974) supplemented the reserve and credit shares. It is designed to provide loans for longer periods and in large sizes in relation to quotas than within the framework of regular credit shares. The basis for a country's request to the IMF for a loan under extended lending is a serious imbalance in the balance of payments caused by adverse structural changes in production, trade or prices. Extended loans are usually provided for three years, if necessary - up to four years, in certain portions (tranches) at specified intervals - once every six months, quarterly or (in some cases) monthly. The main purpose of stand-by loans and extended loans is to assist IMF member countries in implementing macroeconomic stabilization programs or structural reforms. The Fund requires the borrowing country to fulfill certain conditions, and the degree of their severity increases as they move from one loan share to another. Certain conditions must be met before receiving a loan. The obligations of the borrowing country, providing for its implementation of relevant financial and economic activities, are recorded in the “Letter of Intent” or Memorandum of Economic and Financial Policies sent to the IMF. The progress in fulfilling obligations by the country receiving the loan is monitored by periodically assessing the special performance criteria provided for in the agreement. These criteria can be either quantitative, relating to certain macroeconomic indicators, or structural, reflecting institutional changes. If the IMF considers that a country is using a loan in conflict with the goals of the Fund and is not fulfilling its obligations, it may limit its lending and refuse to provide the next tranche. Thus, this mechanism allows the IMF to exert economic pressure on borrowing countries.

Unlike World Bank, the IMF's activities focus on relatively short-term macroeconomic crises. The World Bank provides loans only to poor countries, the IMF can provide loans to any of its member countries that lack foreign exchange to cover short-term financial obligations.

The IMF provides loans with a number of requirements - freedom of movement of capital, privatization (including natural monopolies - railway transport And public utilities), minimizing or even eliminating government spending on social programs - education, healthcare, cheaper housing, public transport and so on.; refusal of protection environment; wage cuts, restrictions on workers' rights; increasing tax pressure on the poor, etc.

The IMF (stands for International Monetary Fund) was created in 1944 at the Bretton Woods conference in the USA. Its goals were initially declared as follows: assistance international cooperation in the field of finance, the expansion and growth of trade, ensuring the stability of currencies, assisting in settlements between member countries and providing them with funds to correct imbalances in the balance of payments. However, in practice, the Fund’s activities come down to money-grubbing for a minority (of countries and which, among other organizations, is controlled by the IMF. Have IMF, or IMF (International Monetary Fund) loans helped countries in need? How does the Fund’s work affect world economy?

IMF: deciphering the concept, functions and tasks

IMF stands for International Monetary Fund, IMF (decoding of the abbreviation) in the Russian version looks like this: International Monetary Fund. This is designed to promote monetary cooperation on the basis of advising its members and providing them with loans.

The objective of the Fund is to consolidate solid currency parity. To this end, member states established them in gold and US dollars, agreeing not to change them by more than ten percent without the consent of the Fund and not to deviate from this balance in transactions by more than one percent.

History of the creation and development of the Foundation

In 1944, at the Bretton Woods conference in the United States, representatives of forty-four countries decided to create a single framework for economic cooperation in order to avoid the devaluation that resulted in the thirties. The Great Depression, as well as in order to restore the financial system between states after the war. The following year, based on the results of the conference, the IMF was created.

The USSR also took an active part in the conference and signed the Act establishing the organization, but subsequently never ratified it and did not participate in the activities. But in the nineties, after the collapse Soviet Union, Russia and other countries - former Soviet republics joined the IMF.

In 1999, the IMF already included 182 countries.

Governing bodies, structure and participating countries

The headquarters of the UN specialized organization, the IMF, is located in Washington. The governing body of the International Monetary Fund is the Board of Governors. It includes the actual manager and a deputy from each participating country of the Fund.

The Executive Board consists of 24 directors representing groups of countries or individual member countries. At the same time, the managing director is always a European, and his first deputy is an American.

The authorized capital is formed from contributions from states. Currently, the IMF includes 188 countries. Based on the size of the quotas paid, their votes are distributed between countries.

IMF data suggests that greatest number votes belong to the USA (17.8%), Japan (6.13%), Germany (5.99%), Great Britain and France (4.95 each), Saudi Arabia (3.22%), Italy (4. 18%) and Russia (2.74%). Thus, the US, as having the largest number of votes, is the only country that has a say in the most important issues discussed in the IMF. And many European countries (and not only them) simply vote the same way as the United States of America.

The Fund's role in the global economy

The IMF constantly monitors the financial and monetary policies of member countries and the state of the economy around the world. For this purpose, consultations are held every year with government organizations regarding exchange rates. On the other hand, member countries must consult the Fund on macroeconomic issues.

The IMF issues loans to countries in need, offering countries that they can use for a variety of purposes.

In the first twenty years of its existence, the Fund provided loans mainly to developed countries, but then this activity was reoriented to developing countries. It is interesting that around the same time the neocolonial system began its formation in the world.

Conditions for countries to receive a loan from the IMF

In order for the organization's member states to receive a loan from the IMF, they must fulfill a number of political and economic conditions.

This trend formed in the eighties of the twentieth century, and over time it only continues to get tougher.

The IMF Bank demands the implementation of programs that, in fact, lead not to the country’s exit from the crisis, but to the curtailment of investments, the cessation of economic growth and the deterioration of citizens in general.

It is noteworthy that in 2007 there was a severe crisis in the IMF organization. Deciphering the global economic downturn of 2008, as they say, may have been its consequence. Nobody wanted to take loans from the organization, and those countries that had received them earlier were eager to ahead of schedule pay off the debt.

But a global crisis occurred, everything fell into place, and even more. The IMF has tripled its resources as a result and has an even greater impact on the world economy.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) was established simultaneously with World Bank at a conference of central bank economists and other government officials of the major trading powers at Bretton Woods (USA) in July 1944. The governments of 29 countries signed the IMF Agreement on December 27, 1945. The foundation began its activities on March 1, 1947. Has the status of a UN specialized agency.

The organization was created to restore international trade and create a stable global monetary system. The first country to receive IMF assistance on May 8, 1947, was France - it was allocated $25 million to stabilize the financial system that suffered during the German occupation.

Currently, the main tasks of the fund are coordinating the monetary and financial policies of member countries, providing them with short-term loans to settle balances of payments and maintain exchange rates.

IMF played important role in maintaining the functioning of the Bretton Woods agreements, which consisted of a fixed price for gold and fixed exchange rates to the dollar (freely exchangeable for gold). In the first decades, the IMF most often issued loans to European countries to support trade balance with the USA: Great Britain, France, Germany and other countries had to buy the dollar at a greatly inflated price due to its peg to gold (backing the dollar in gold in the 25 years after the end of World War II decreased from 55 to 22%). In particular, in 1966, the UK received $4.3 billion to prevent the devaluation of the pound sterling, but on November 18, 1967, the British currency still depreciated by 14.3%, from $2.8 to $2.4 per pound.

In 1971, the United States, due to growing military costs, abolished the free exchange of dollars for gold for foreign governments: the Bretton Woods system ceased to exist. She was replaced by new principle, based on free trading of currencies (Jamaican Monetary System). After that Western Europe there was no longer any need to buy a dollar that was overvalued relative to gold and resort to the help of the IMF to correct the trade balance. In this situation, the IMF switched to issuing loans to developing countries. The reasons were the crises of oil importers after the crises of 1973 and 1979, subsequent crises of the world economy and the transition to a market economy of the former socialist countries.

Beginning in the 1970s, the IMF began to actively put forward demands on borrowing countries to carry out structural economic reforms (the very possibility of making demands was introduced back in 1952). Among the typical conditions for the allocation of loans was a reduction in government funding Agriculture and industry, removal of barriers to imports, privatization of enterprises. IMF experts stated that these reforms will help states build an effective market economy, however, the UN Conference on Trade and Development, as well as many experts, pointed out that the fund’s actions only worsened the situation of states, in particular, leading to a significant decrease in food production and hunger. For a long time Argentina, which began borrowing money from the fund in 1985, was considered a model for the effective implementation of IMF recommendations, but in 2001, the state’s economic policy led to a default and a protracted crisis.

The main sources of financial resources of the IMF are quotas from member states of the organization. For domestic purposes, the IMF has issued a global reserve unit of payment since 1967, known as special rights borrowing (special drawing rights, SDR). It has a non-cash form, is used to regulate the balance of payments and can be exchanged for currency within the organization. The main source of financing for the IMF is the quotas of member countries, which are transferred upon joining the organization and can subsequently be increased. The total resource of quotas is 238 billion SDR, or about $368 billion, of which Russia’s share is 5.95 billion SDR (about $9.2 billion), or 2.5% of the total volume of quotas. The largest share belongs to the United States - 42.12 billion SDR (about $65.2 billion), or 17.69% of the total quotas.

In 2010, the leaders of countries " G20"in Seoul, they agreed to revise quotas in favor of developing countries. As a result of the 14th revision of quotas, their overall size will be doubled, from 238.4 billion SDR to 476.8 billion SDR, in addition, more than 6% of quotas will be redistributed from developed countries developing. So far, this revision of quotas has not been ratified by the United States.

The highest body of the IMF is the Board of Governors, which consists of two people (the governor and his deputy) from each member country of the organization. Typically these positions are held by finance ministers or central bankers. Traditionally, the Board of Governors meets once a year. Currently, the representative of the Russian Federation on the council is the head of the Russian Ministry of Finance, Anton Siluanov.

Administrative functions and day-to-day management are entrusted to the Managing Director (since 2011, this post has been held by Christine Lagarde) and the Board of Executive Directors, which consists of 24 people (eight directors are appointed from the USA, Germany, Japan, Great Britain, France, China, Saudi Arabia and RF, the rest represent groups of states (for example, Northern Europe, north and south South America etc.). Each director has a certain number of votes depending on the size of the country's economy and its quota in the IMF. The Council is re-elected every 2 years. The Russian Federation has 2.39% of total number votes, the USA has the most votes - 16.75%.

As of August 2014, the largest IMF borrowers are Greece (received loans worth about $4.5 billion), Ukraine (about $3 billion) and Portugal (about $2.3 billion). In addition, loans to support the stability of the national economy were approved for Mexico, Poland, Colombia and Morocco. At the same time, Ireland has the largest debt to the IMF, about $30 billion.

Russia in last time received money from the IMF in 1999. In total, from 1992 to 1999, the IMF allocated $26.992 billion to Russia. full repayment Russia's debt to the IMF was announced on February 1, 2005.

The number of IMF employees is about 2.6 thousand in 142 countries.

The organization's headquarters are located in Washington, DC.

International Monetary Fund, IMF(International Monetary Fund, IMF) is a specialized agency of the United Nations, headquartered in Washington, USA.

At the United Nations Monetary and Financial Affairs meeting on July 22, 1944, the basis of the agreement was developed ( IMF Charter). The most significant contributions to the development of the IMF concept were made by the head of the British delegation, and Harry Dexter White- A senior official at the US Treasury Department. The final version of the agreement was signed by the first 29 states on December 27, 1945 - the official date of the creation of the IMF. The IMF began operations on March 1, 1947, as part of Bretton Woods system. In the same year, France took out its first loan. Currently, the IMF unites 188 countries, and its structures employ 2,500 people from 133 countries.

The IMF provides short- and medium-term loans at balance of payments deficit and the states. The provision of loans is usually accompanied by a set of conditions and recommendations.

The IMF's policies and recommendations regarding developing countries have been repeatedly criticized, the essence of which is that the implementation of recommendations and conditions are ultimately not aimed at increasing the independence, stability and development of the national economy of the state, but only at tying it to international financial flows.

Objectives of the IMF International Monetary Fund

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has the following goals:

1. To promote international cooperation in the monetary and financial field through a permanent institution that provides a mechanism for consultation and joint work on international monetary and financial issues.
2. To promote the expansion and balanced growth of international trade and thereby contribute to the achievement and maintenance of high levels of employment and real incomes, as well as the development of the productive resources of all Member States, considering these actions as the primary objectives of economic policy.
3. Maintain stability and orderliness currency regime among member states, and to avoid currencies in order to gain a competitive advantage.
4. Assist in the establishment of a multilateral current account settlement system among member countries, as well as in the removal of foreign exchange restrictions that impede the growth of world trade.
5. By temporarily making the general resources of the fund available to member states, subject to adequate guarantees, create confidence among them, thereby ensuring that imbalances in their balance of payments without resorting to measures that could be detrimental to welfare at the national or international level.
6. In accordance with the above, reduce the duration of imbalances in the external balances of payments of member states, as well as reduce the scale of these imbalances.

Goals and role of the IMF:

Main functions of the IMF of the International Monetary Fund

• Promoting international cooperation in monetary policy;
• Expansion of world trade;
• Lending;
• Stabilization of monetary exchange rates;
• Consulting debtor countries;
• Development of standards for international financial statistics;
• Collection and publication of international financial statistics.

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Discussion is closed.

In the same year, France took out its first loan. Currently, the IMF unites 185 countries, and its structures employ 2,500 people from 133 countries.

The IMF provides short- and medium-term loans when there is a government balance of payments deficit. The provision of loans is usually accompanied by a set of conditions and recommendations aimed at improving the situation.

The IMF's policies and recommendations regarding developing countries have been repeatedly criticized, the essence of which is that the implementation of recommendations and conditions are ultimately not aimed at increasing the independence, stability and development of the national economy of the state, but only tying it to international financial flows.

Official IMF goals

1. “to promote international cooperation in the monetary and financial sphere”;
2. “to promote the expansion and balanced growth of international trade” in the interests of developing productive resources, achieving high levels of employment and real incomes of member states;
3. “ensure the stability of currencies, maintain orderly monetary relations among member states” and prevent “currency depreciation in order to gain competitive advantages”;
4. provide assistance in creating a multilateral settlement system between member states, as well as in eliminating currency restrictions;
5. provide member states with temporary funds in foreign currencies to enable them to “correct imbalances in their balance of payments.”

Main functions of the IMF

• promoting international cooperation in monetary policy
• expansion of world trade
• lending
• stabilization of monetary exchange rates
• consulting debtor countries

Structure of governing bodies

The highest governing body of the IMF is Board of Governors(English) Board of Governors), in which each member country is represented by a governor and his deputy. These are usually finance ministers or central bankers. The Council is responsible for resolving key issues of the Fund’s activities: amending the Articles of Agreement, admitting and expelling member countries, determining and revising their shares in the capital, and electing executive directors. Governors usually meet in session once a year, but may hold meetings and vote by mail at any time.

The authorized capital is about 217 billion SDR (as of January 2008, 1 SDR was equal to approximately 1.5 US dollars). It is formed by contributions from member states, each of which usually pays approximately 25% of its quota in SDRs or in the currencies of other members, and the remaining 75% in its own national currency. Based on the size of quotas, votes are distributed among member countries in the governing bodies of the IMF.

The largest number of votes in the IMF (as of June 16, 2006) are: USA - 17.8%; Germany - 5.99%; Japan - 6.13%; Great Britain - 4.95%; France - 4.95%; Saudi Arabia - 3.22%; Italy - 4.18%; Russia - 2.74%. The share of 15 EU member countries is 30.3%, 29 industrial developed countries(member countries of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, OECD) have a combined 60.35% of the votes in the IMF. The share of other countries, making up over 84% of the Fund's membership, accounts for only 39.75%.

The IMF operates on the principle of a “weighted” number of votes: the ability of member countries to influence the Fund’s activities through voting is determined by their share in its capital. Each state has 250 “basic” votes, regardless of the size of its contribution to the capital, and an additional one vote for every 100 thousand SDR of the amount of this contribution. This arrangement ensures a decisive majority of votes for the leading states.

Decisions in the Board of Governors are usually made by a simple majority (at least half) of votes, and on important issues of an operational or strategic nature - by a “special majority” (70 or 85% of the votes of member countries, respectively). Despite a slight reduction in the share of voting power of the US and EU, they can still veto key decisions of the Fund, the adoption of which requires a maximum majority (85%). This means that the United States, together with leading Western countries, has the opportunity to exercise control over the decision-making process in the IMF and direct its activities based on their interests. As for developing countries, if there is coordinated action, they are theoretically also able to prevent the adoption of decisions that do not suit them. However, achieving consistency across a large number of disparate countries is difficult. At the Fund's April 2004 meeting, the intention was expressed to "enhance the ability of developing countries and countries with economies in transition to participate more effectively in the decision-making machinery of the IMF."

Plays a significant role in the organizational structure of the IMF International Monetary and Financial Committee IMFC International Monetary and Financial Committee ,IMFC). From 1974 until September 1999, its predecessor was the Interim Committee on the International Monetary System. It consists of 24 IMF governors, including from Russia, and meets twice a year. This committee is an advisory body of the Board of Governors and has no power to make policy decisions. Nevertheless, it performs important functions: directs the activities of the Executive Council; develops strategic decisions related to the functioning of the global monetary system and the activities of the IMF; submits to the Board of Governors proposals for amendments to the IMF's Articles of Agreement. A similar role is also played by the Development Committee - the Joint Ministerial Committee of the Boards of Governors of the World Bank and the Joint IMF - World Bank Development Committee).

The Board of Governors delegates many of its powers to the Executive Board. Executive Board), that is, the directorate that is responsible for the conduct of the affairs of the IMF, which includes a wide range of political, operational and administrative issues, in particular the provision of loans to member countries and the supervision of their exchange rate policies.

The IMF Executive Board elects a Managing Director for a five-year term. Managing Director), who heads the Foundation's staff (as of September 2004 - about 2,700 people from more than 140 countries). He must be a representative of one of the European countries. Managing Director (since November 2007) - Dominique Strauss-Kann (France), his first deputy - John Lipsky (USA).

Chapter permanent mission IMF in Russia Neven Mathes

Basic lending mechanisms

1. Reserve share. The first portion of foreign currency that a member country can purchase from the IMF within 25% of the quota was called “golden” before the Jamaica Agreement, and since 1978 - the reserve share (Reserve Tranche). The reserve share is defined as the excess of the quota of a member country over the amount in the account of the National Currency Fund of that country. If the IMF uses part of a member country's national currency to provide credit to other countries, that country's reserve share increases accordingly. The outstanding amount of loans provided by a member country to the Fund under the loan agreements of the NHS and NHS constitutes its credit position. The reserve share and the lending position together constitute the “reserve position” of an IMF member country.

2. Credit shares. Funds in foreign currency that can be acquired by a member country in excess of the reserve share (if fully used, the IMF's holdings in the country's currency reach 100% of the quota) are divided into four credit shares, or tranches (Credit Tranches), each constituting 25% of the quota . Member countries' access to IMF credit resources within the framework of credit shares is limited: the amount of a country's currency in the IMF's assets cannot exceed 200% of its quota (including 75% of the quota contributed by subscription). Thus, the maximum amount of credit that a country can receive from the Fund as a result of using reserve and credit shares is 125% of its quota. However, the charter gives the IMF the right to suspend this restriction. On this basis, the Fund's resources are in many cases used in amounts exceeding the limit fixed in the charter. Therefore, the concept of “Upper Credit Tranches” began to mean not only 75% of the quota, as in the early period of the IMF, but amounts exceeding the first credit share.

3. Stand-by Arrangements(since 1952) provide the member country with a guarantee that, up to a certain amount and for the duration of the agreement, subject to compliance with specified conditions, the country can freely receive foreign currency from the IMF in exchange for national currency. This practice of providing loans is the opening of a line of credit. While the use of the first credit share can be carried out in the form of an outright purchase of foreign currency after the Fund approves its request, the allocation of funds for the account of the upper credit shares is usually carried out through arrangements with member countries for reserve credits. From the 50s to the mid-70s, agreements on stand-by loans had a term of up to a year, since 1977 - up to 18 months and even up to 3 years due to the increase in balance of payments deficits.

4. Extended lending mechanism(Extended Fund Facility) (since 1974) supplemented the reserve and credit shares. It is intended to provide loans for longer periods and in larger amounts in relation to quotas than within the framework of conventional loan shares. The basis for a country's request to the IMF for a loan under extended lending is a serious imbalance in the balance of payments caused by adverse structural changes in production, trade or prices. Extended loans are usually provided for three years, if necessary - up to four years, in certain portions (tranches) at specified intervals - once every six months, quarterly or (in some cases) monthly. The main purpose of stand-by loans and extended loans is to assist IMF member countries in implementing macroeconomic stabilization programs or structural reforms. The Fund requires the borrowing country to fulfill certain conditions, and the degree of their severity increases as they move from one loan share to another. Certain conditions must be met before receiving a loan. The obligations of the borrowing country, providing for its implementation of relevant financial and economic activities, are recorded in a Letter of Intent or Memorandum of Economic and Financial Policies sent to the IMF. The progress in fulfilling obligations by the country receiving the loan is monitored by periodically assessing the special performance criteria provided for in the agreement. These criteria can be either quantitative, relating to certain macroeconomic indicators, or structural, reflecting institutional changes. If the IMF considers that a country is using a loan in conflict with the goals of the Fund and is not fulfilling its obligations, it may limit its lending and refuse to provide the next tranche. Thus, this mechanism allows the IMF to exert economic pressure on borrowing countries.

Notes

see also

Links

• Alexander Tarasov “Argentina is another victim of the IMF”
• Could the IMF be dissolved? Yuri Sigov. "Business Week", 2007
• IMF loan: pleasure for the rich and violence for the poor. Andrey Ganzha. "Telegraph", 2008