IMF loans are provided mainly for a period of time. International Monetary Fund. Dossier. Procedure for granting loans

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is an intergovernmental organization designed to regulate monetary relations between states and provide financial assistance to member countries to eliminate currency difficulties caused by balance of payments imbalances. The IMF was established at the International Monetary and Financial Conference (July 1-22, 1944) in Bretton Woods (USA, New Hampshire). The Foundation began its practical activities on March 1, 1947.

The USSR also took part in the Bretton Woods Conference. However, subsequently, due to the Cold War between East and West, he did not ratify the Agreement on the Formation of the IMF. For the same reason, throughout the 50-60s. Poland, Czechoslovakia and Cuba left the IMF. As a result of deep socio-economic and political reforms in the early 90s. former socialist countries, as well as states that were previously part of the USSR, joined the IMF (with the exception of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and Cuba).

Currently, 182 countries are members of the IMF (see Fig. 4). Any country that conducts independent foreign policy and ready to accept the rights and obligations provided for by the IMF Charter.

The official objectives of the IMF are to:

• promote balanced growth of international trade;
• maintain the stability of currency exchange rates;
• promote the creation of a multilateral settlement system for current transactions between members of the Fund and the elimination of currency restrictions that impede the growth of international trade;
• provide member countries with credit resources that allow them to regulate the imbalance of temporary payments without the use of restrictive measures in the field foreign trade and calculations;
• serve as a forum for consultation and cooperation on international monetary issues.

Responsible for the smooth operation of the global currency and payment system, the Fund devotes Special attention the state of liquidity on a global scale, i.e. the level and composition of reserves available to member states and intended to cover trade and payment needs. One of important functions The Fund also provides additional liquidity to its members through the distribution of Special Drawing Rights (SDRs). SDR (or SDR) is an international monetary unit of account used as a conventional scale for measuring international requirements and obligations, establishing currency parity and exchange rate, as an international means of payment and reserve. The SDR value is determined based on average cost five major currencies of the world (before January 1, 1981 - sixteen currencies). Definition specific gravity each currency is made taking into account the country's share in international trade, but for the US dollar its share in international payments is taken into account. To date, 21.4 billion SDRs have been issued with a total value of about 29 billion US dollars, which is about 2% of all reserves.

The Fund has significant general resources to finance temporary disequilibria in the balance of payments of its members. To use them, a member must provide the Fund with a compelling justification for the need, which may be related to the balance of payments, reserve position, or changes in reserves. The IMF provides its resources on the basis of equality and non-discrimination, taking into account the social and domestic political objectives of member countries. The Fund's policy gives them the opportunity to use IMF financing already at early stage the emergence of balance of payments problems.

At the same time, the Fund’s assistance helps to overcome the imbalance of payments without the use of trade and payment restrictions. The Fund plays a catalytic role, as changes in the policies pursued by states in implementing IMF-supported programs help attract additional financial assistance from other sources. Finally, the Fund acts as a financial intermediary, ensuring the redistribution of funds from those countries where there is a surplus to countries where there is a deficit.

IMF governance structure

1. The highest governing body is the Board of Governors, in which each member country is represented by a governor and his deputy. In most cases, the Fund's managers are ministers of finance, or heads of central banks, or other persons of similar position. The Board of Governors elects a chairman from among its members. The competence of the council includes decisions on the most important, fundamental issues activities of the IMF, such as the admission and exclusion of members of the Fund, the determination and revision of quotas, the distribution of net income, and the election of executive directors. The Governors meet once a year to discuss the Fund's activities, but they may vote at any time by mail.

The IMF is structured as a joint stock company, and therefore the ability of each participant to influence its activities is determined by its share in the capital. In accordance with this, the IMF operates the principle of the so-called “weighted” number of votes: each member country has 250 “basic” votes (regardless of the size of the contribution to the Fund’s capital) and an additional one vote for every 100 thousand SDR units of its share in this capital. In addition, when voting on certain issues, creditor countries receive an additional one vote for every 400 thousand US dollars of loans provided by them on voting day, due to a corresponding reduction in the number of votes of debtor countries. This arrangement leaves the final say in the management of the IMF's affairs to the countries that have invested the most in it.

Decisions in the IMF Board of Governors are mainly made by a simple majority (at least half) of votes, and on the most important issues (for example, amendments to the Charter, establishment and revision of the size of the shares of member countries in capital, a number of issues of the functioning of the SDR mechanism, policy in the field of exchange rates, etc.) by a “special (qualified) majority”, which currently provides for two categories: 70% and 85% of the total votes of member countries.

The current IMF Charter provides that the Board of Governors may decide to establish a new permanent governing body, the Council at the ministerial level of member countries, to oversee the regulation and adaptation of the global monetary system. But it has not yet been created, and its role is played by the 22-member Interim Committee of the Board of Governors on the World Monetary System, established in 1974. However, unlike the proposed Council, the Interim Committee does not have the power to make policy decisions.

2. The Board of Governors delegates many of its powers to the Executive Board, i.e. The Directorate, which is responsible for the conduct of the affairs of the Foundation and operates from its headquarters in Washington.

3. The IMF Executive Board appoints a managing director, who heads the administrative apparatus of the Fund and is in charge of day-to-day affairs. Traditionally, the managing director must be European or (at least) non-American. Since 2000, the Managing Director of the IMF is Horst Keller (Germany).

4. The IMF Committee on Balance of Payments Statistics, which includes representatives of industrialized and developing countries. It develops recommendations for the wider use of statistics in the compilation of balances of payments, coordinates the implementation of a basic statistical survey of portfolio investment and carries out studies on the recording of flows associated with financial means of a derivational nature.

Capital. The IMF's capital is made up of subscription contributions from member countries. Each country has a quota expressed in SDR. A member country's quota is the most important element of its financial and organizational relations with the Foundation. First, the quota determines the number of votes in the Fund. Secondly, the size of the quota is based on the extent of access of an IMF member to the financial resources of the organization in accordance with established limits. Third, the quota determines the IMF member's share in the allocation of SDRs. The Charter does not provide methods for determining quotas for IMF members. At the same time, from the very beginning, the size of quotas was associated, although not on a rigid basis, with such economic factors as national income and the volume of foreign trade and payments. The Ninth General Review of Quotas used a set of five formulas agreed upon during the Eighth General Review to produce “estimated quotas,” which provide a broad measure of the relative position of IMF members in the global economy. These formulas use economic data on a state's gross domestic product (GDP), current transactions, fluctuations in current receipts, and government reserves.

The United States, being the country with the highest economic performance, made the largest contribution to the IMF, amounting to about 18% of the total amount of quotas (about 35 billion US dollars); Palau, which joined the IMF in December 1997, has the smallest quota and has contributed about US$3.8 million.

Until 1978, 25% of the quota was paid in gold, currently - in reserve assets (SDRs or freely usable currencies); 75% of the subscription amount is in national currency, usually provided to the Fund in the form of promissory notes.

The IMF's Charter provides that, in addition to equity, which is the main source of financing its activities, the Fund also has the opportunity to use borrowed funds in any currency and from any source, i.e. borrow them both from official bodies and on the private capital market. To date, the IMF has received loans from the treasuries and central banks of member countries, as well as from Switzerland, which was not a member until May 1992, and from the Bank for International Settlements (BIS). As for the private money market, he has not yet resorted to its services.

IMF lending activities. The IMF's financial transactions are carried out only with official bodies of member countries - treasuries, central banks, and currency stabilization funds. The Fund's funds can be made available to its members through a range of approaches and mechanisms, differing mainly in the types of problems of financing the balance of payments deficit, as well as the level of conditions put forward by the IMF. Moreover, these conditions are a composite criterion that includes three separate elements: the state of the balance of payments, the balance of international reserves and the dynamics of the reserve position of countries. These three elements that determine the need for balance of payments financing are considered independent and each of them can form the basis for submitting a request for financing to the Fund.

A country in need of foreign currency purchases freely usable currency, or SDRs, in exchange for an equivalent amount of its domestic currency, which is deposited into an IMF account at the country's central bank.

The IMF charges borrowing countries a one-time commission fee of 0.5% of the transaction amount and a certain fee, or interest rate, for the loans it provides, which is based on market rates.

After the expiration of the established period, the member country is obliged to carry out the reverse operation - to buy back its national currency from the Fund, returning to it the borrowed funds. Typically, this operation, which in practice means the repayment of a previously received loan, must be carried out within a period of 3 1/4 to 5 years from the date of purchase of the currency. In addition, the borrowing country must repurchase its excess currency for the Fund ahead of schedule as its balance of payments improves and foreign exchange reserves increase. Loans are also considered repaid if the national currency of the debtor country held by the IMF is purchased by another member state.

Member countries' access to IMF credit resources is limited by certain nuances. According to the original Charter, they were as follows: firstly, the amount of currency received by a member country in the twelve months preceding its new application to the Fund, including the amount requested, should not exceed 25% of the country's quota; secondly, the total amount of a given country’s currency in the IMF’s assets could not exceed 200% of its quota (including 75% of the quota contributed to the Fund by subscription). The revised Charter in 1978 removed the first limitation. This allowed member countries to utilize their ability to obtain currency from the IMF for more than short term than the five years it took before. As for the second condition, in exceptional circumstances its operation may be suspended.

Technical assistance. The International Monetary Fund also provides technical assistance to member countries. It is carried out through sending missions to central banks, ministries of finance and statistical authorities of the countries that requested such assistance, sending experts to these bodies for 2-3 years, conducting an examination of the legislative documents being prepared. Technical assistance is expressed in the IMF's assistance to member countries in the field of monetary, exchange rate policy and banking supervision, statistics, development of financial and economic legislation and personnel training.

International Monetary Fund- IMF, a financial institution of the United Nations. One of the main functions of the IMF is to issue loans to states to compensate for balance of payments deficits. The issuance of loans, as a rule, is linked to a set of measures recommended by the IMF to improve the economy.

The International Monetary Fund is special establishment UN. The head office is located in the capital of the United States - Washington.

The International Monetary Fund was founded in July 44 of the last century, but only in March 1947 it began its practice, issuing short-term and medium-term loans to needy countries in conditions of a lack of the country's balance of payments.

The IMF is an independent organization operating according to its own charter, the goal is to establish cooperation between countries in the field of monetary finance, as well as stimulate international trade.

Functions of the IMF boils down to the following steps:

• promoting cooperation between states on financial policy issues;
• growth in the level of trade in the world services market;
• providing loans;
• balancing;
• advising debtor states;
• production international foundations monetary reporting and statistics;
• publication of statistics in the region.

The powers of the IMF (International Monetary Fund) includes actions to form and issue financial reserves to participants using a special form “Special privileges for borrowing.” The IMF's resources come from the signatures, or “quotas,” of the fund's participants.

At the top of the IMF pyramid is the general board of managers, which includes the head and his deputy of the fund's member country. Most often, the role of manager is the minister of finance of the state, or the governor of the Central Bank. It is the meeting that decides all the main issues regarding the activities of the International Monetary Fund. The executive board, which consists of twenty-four directors, is responsible for formulating the fund's policies and carrying out its actions. The privilege of choosing the head is enjoyed by 8 countries that have the largest quota in the fund. These include almost all countries from the G8.

The IMF's Executive Board selects a steward for the next five years to lead the overall staff. Since the second summer month of 2011, the head of the IMF is the Frenchman Christine Lagarde.

Impact of the International Monetary Fund on the global economy

The IMF issues loans to countries in a couple of cases: to pay off payment deficits and maintain macroeconomic stability of states. A country that needs additional foreign currency purchases it or borrows it, providing in exchange the same amount, only in the currency that is official in that country and is deposited into the IMF current account.

In order to strengthen international economic cooperation within international relations and the creation of prosperous economies, in 1944 such organizations as the International Monetary Fund and The World Bank. Despite similar ideas, the tasks and functions of the two organizations are somewhat different.

Thus, the IMF supports the development of international relations in the field of financial security by providing short- and medium-term loans, as well as advice on economic policy and maintaining financial stability.

In turn, the World Bank is taking measures to allow countries to achieve economic potential and also reduce the poverty threshold.

By collaborating in a variety of areas, the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank are helping countries reduce poverty by easing debt burdens. Twice a year, the organizations hold a joint meeting.

Cooperation between the IMF and Belarus began in July 1992. It was on this day that the Republic of Belarus became a member of the International Monetary Fund. Belarus' initial quota was just over SDR 280 million, which was later increased to SDR 386 million.

The IMF assists the Republic of Belarus in three vectors:

• cooperation with the Government of the Republic of Belarus on issues of programs in the field national economy, focusing on fiscal, monetary and trade policies;
• provision of resources in the form of loans and ;
• expert and technical assistance.

The IMF provided financial assistance to Belarus twice. So in 1992, the Republic of Belarus was provided with a loan in the amount of 217.2 million US dollars for systemic transformations in. And another 77.4 million under the stand-by loan agreement. By the beginning of 2005, the country had paid the IMF in full.

The second time, the country's leadership turned to the IMF in 2008, with a request to again provide lending through the stand-by system. The financing program was agreed upon in January 2009 and the Republic of Belarus was allocated 2.46 billion US dollars for a period of fifteen months. The amount was later increased to US$3.46 billion.

The implemented programs allowed the Republic of Belarus to maintain stability in the foreign exchange market, the stability of the financial system, avoid a balance of payments deficit and do the impossible - reduce it, reducing it to a minimum.

The Belarusian authorities are negotiating to receive a new IMF loan in the amount of $3 billion at 2.3% for a period of 10 years. To allocate a loan, the IMF calls on Belarus to implement a comprehensive strategy of economic reforms.

At the beginning of 2017, the main issues of the negotiations were changing housing and communal services tariffs and improving the work of the public sector of the economy. The IMF calls for a number of reforms in relation to state-owned enterprises in order to increase their productivity and efficiency, and also recommends defining a sequence of measures to achieve full cost recovery in the housing and communal services sector.

Increasing tariffs for housing and communal services and the privatization of state-owned enterprises are the key topics in negotiations with the IMF. From my side, foreign policy department The country believes that in matters of increasing tariffs in housing and communal services, as well as privatization of the public sector, we should move step by step.

As the IMF notes, great importance has an improvement in the country's business climate, including through accession to the WTO and the development of competition in product markets. The country also needs to conduct careful monetary policy to maintain macroeconomic and financial stability.

The International Monetary Fund, IMF, is primarily a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN), headquartered in Washington, USA. It is worth noting that although the IMF was created with the support of the UN, it is an independent organization.

The International Monetary Fund was created relatively recently - at the Bretton Woods Conference, on monetary and financial issues 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 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 - the official date of the 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 187 countries, and its structures employ 2,500 people from 133 countries.

The IMF provides short- and medium-term loans when there is a deficit in the state's balance of payments. 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.

international monetary fund lending

1. Main goals and functions of the IMF and structure of governing bodies

The main objectives of the International Monetary Fund are:

1. “the need to promote international cooperation in the monetary and financial sphere”;

2. “promoting the expansion and balanced growth of international trade” in the interests of developing productive resources, achieving high level employment and real incomes of Member States;

3. “ensuring the stability of currencies, maintaining orderly monetary relations among member states” and striving to prevent “currency depreciation in order to gain competitive advantages”;

4. providing assistance in creating a multilateral settlement system between member states, as well as in eliminating currency restrictions;

5. temporary provision of foreign currency funds to Member States to enable them to “correct imbalances in their balance of payments.”

The main functions of the IMF are:

1. promoting international cooperation in monetary policy

2. expansion of world trade

3. lending

4. stabilization of monetary exchange rates

5. consulting debtor countries

6. development of standards for international financial statistics

7. collection and publication of international financial statistics

Higher governing body IMF - Board of Governors, in which each member country is represented by a governor and a deputy governor. 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 (special unit for the right to borrow) (as of January 2011, 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, 2010) 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 member countries of the Organization for 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 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. 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 adjustment is made by no more than 1/4 of 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 the 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. With coordinated action, developing countries are also able to prevent decisions that do not suit them. However, achieving consistency across a large number of disparate countries is difficult, so the intention was 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.”

The International Monetary and Financial Committee plays a significant role in the organizational structure of the IMF. 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, it performs important functions:

ь directs the activities of the Executive Council;

b develops strategic decisions related to the functioning of the global monetary system and the activities of the IMF;

b submits to the Board of Governors proposals for amendments to the Articles of Agreement of the IMF.

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.

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). 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).

The head of the IMF permanent mission in Russia is Neven Mathes.

Manager. Elected by the Executive Board, the IMF Governor chairs the Executive Board and is the organization's chief of staff. Under the direction of the Executive Board, the Governor is responsible for the day-to-day operations of the IMF. The manager is appointed for five years and may be re-elected for a subsequent term.

Staff. The Articles of the Agreement require personnel appointed to the IMF to demonstrate the highest standards of professionalism and technical competence, and reflect the internationality of the organization. Approximately 125 nations are represented among the organization's 2,300 employees.

The International Monetary Fund is a financial institution that, despite its status as a special UN agency, has gained notoriety. What is the IMF, what are its functions according to constituent documents and in fact, how fair are the critics who call the fund’s financial assistance destructive for the economies of the countries being financed?

Creation of the IMF, goals of the fund

The concept of a monetary fund, whose mission would be to support financial stability throughout the world, called the IMF Charter, was developed in July 1944 during the Bretton Woods Conference under the auspices of the United Nations, which resolved issues of international financial and monetary interaction after the apparent end of World War II war.

The date of creation of the IMF (English IMF, or International Monetary Fund) was December 27, 1945 - on this day, representatives of the first 29 IMF countries officially signed the final version of the relevant agreement. The organization's de facto activities began only on March 1, 1947, when France took out the first IMF loan. Today the IMF unites 188 countries, and the fund's headquarters is located in Washington.

According to Article 1 of the IMF Charter, the International Monetary Fund has the following goals:

promoting cooperation of all countries in the monetary and financial sphere, joint resolution of financial problems;

promoting the achievement and maintenance of high levels of real income and employment of the world's population, strengthening and developing the industrial and productive potential of all member states without exception through the expansion and growth of international trade;

maintaining the stability of the currencies of the member states, preventing the devaluation of national currencies;

assistance in the formation and functioning of a multilateral settlement system for financial transactions between member countries, in the abolition of currency restrictions that stand in the way of the growth of world trade;

by providing financial assistance to Member States, to enable them to eliminate imbalances in their balance of payments without introducing measures that could harm their national welfare;

reduce the duration of imbalances in the balance of payments of member countries, while simultaneously reducing the scale of these violations.

It is noteworthy that the so-called financial assistance of the fund is provided exclusively in the form of loans, but they are not provided for the implementation of specific projects. The interest on them is small (0.5% per annum), but often lending does not contribute to the development of the real sector of the economy and the production of competitive products. The following shows the provision of funds from the fund to various countries since 1972 for 40 years, i.e. from expiration date:

First post-war years The fund's main borrower was Europe to rebuild its war-damaged economy. Since the early 1980s, the emphasis has shifted towards Latin America and Asia, and since the 1990s, Russia and the CIS countries have also played a significant role in loans. Ukraine is still in constant contact with the fund. Finally, since the 2000s, loans have been flowing again to Europe - mainly Eastern Europe.

It is noteworthy that the time before the year was the most favorable in the world and the least favorable for the fund - very few loans were required, accordingly the IMF’s influence on world economy and politics has greatly diminished. However, already in 2011, lending quickly restored its volumes, which continued to grow further, including in connection with the Cyprus and Greek crises.

The IMF’s policy is clearly visible from the graph - to help all (and not just poor) countries, focusing on current problems. At the same time, by the way, it is interesting that complete or almost complete absence loans to African countries. Any country within the IMF is either a borrower of the fund, receiving and paying off the loan, or its creditor in accordance with its quota. It can be seen that, in addition to the decline before the last global crisis, the average historical amount of loans has grown over time - compared to the end of the 80s, Europe in 2012 borrowed about 5-6 times more.

In what currency are loans calculated? The fact is that the IMF has its own non-cash means of payment, called “ special rights borrowing" (eng. Special Drawing Rights, SDR). The scale at the top is in billions of SDR. Formally, it is neither a debt obligation nor a currency.

Since 2016, the SDR rate has been pegged to a basket of 5 currencies and is similar to . Nevertheless, there are differences - perhaps the main thing is the presence of the Chinese yuan in the amount of almost 11% due to a decrease in the share of the euro. At the time of this article, the SDR rate is 1.45 US dollars. You can view it, for example, here: http://bankir.ru/kurs/sdr-k-dollar-ssha/.

Functions of the IMF

The list of modern functions of the International Monetary Fund largely coincides with Article 1 of the IMF Charter:

expansion of international trade;

assistance to countries in the form of lending;

promoting interstate interaction in monetary policy;

assistance in the preparation (training, internship) of economic personnel;

stabilization of exchange rates;

advising debtor countries;

development and implementation of global financial statistics standards;

collection, processing and publication of these statistics.

It is interesting that prominent economists subject to reasoned criticism not only the methods of the IMF’s work with debtor countries (that is, those with outstanding debts to the organization), but also the quality of statistics published by the fund, as well as analytical reports.

Structure of the International Monetary Fund

Fund management and decisions on issuing loans are carried out by:

The Board of Governors is the name of the highest governing body of the International Monetary Fund. It includes two authorized persons from each member state - the manager and his deputy;

The Executive Board consists of 24 directors who represent certain member states or groups of countries. Head executive body- the managing director is invariably the plenipotentiary representative of Europe, and his first deputy is a US citizen. Eight directors are delegated by states with the largest quotas in the IMF, the remaining 16 are elected by other participating countries, divided into the appropriate number of groups;

The International Monetary and Financial Committee is formally an advisory body consisting of twenty-four governors, including a representative of the Russian Federation. Performs, in particular, the function of developing strategic decisions relating to the global monetary and financial system;

The IMF Development Committee is another advisory body with similar functions.

IMF capitalization and sources of funds

As of March 1, 2016, the size of the IMF’s authorized capital was about 467.2 billion SDR. Capital is formed by contributions to the monetary fund of member countries, paying as a rule 25% of the quota in SDR (or one of the world currencies) and the remaining 75% in their own national currency. Quotas are constantly revised—there have already been 15 revisions since the foundation began its activities. In 2015, another change occurred with the delegation of about 6% of developed countries towards developing ones.

Important: almost all real decisions are made by a majority of 85% of the votes. At the same time, approximately 17 percent quota (for 2016 contribution of about 42 billion SDR) belongs to the United States of America, giving it an exclusive veto right. Japan, which is in second place, has a quota almost three times lower - about 6%. Russia's share is 2.7% (contribution of about 6.5 billion SDR). So it is extremely difficult to call critics of the organization who claim “the IMF is the USA” wrong or biased.




In fact, the United States and the European Union, which often supports it, have a sufficient quota in the IMF to make the vast majority of decisions. The efforts of China, Russia and India to increase quotas in the fund in accordance with the increased weight of these countries in the world economy are met with opposition from the United States and its allies, who do not want to lose political influence on other IMF countries through the “conditionality” of loans - the presentation of mandatory political obligations to debtor states. -economic requirements.

However, one should not think that the financial problems of countries can be solved only with the help of IMF money. For example, the recent loan to Greece of more than 300 billion euros was financed by the IMF by less than 10% and amounted to only about 20 billion euros in euro terms. A much larger amount—€130 billion—was allocated by the European Financial Stability Fund, created in June 2010.

In addition to the quotas paid by the participating countries, the sources of financial resources of the Monetary Fund are:

gold holdings, according to official data amounting to about 90.5 million ounces and valued at 3.2 billion SDR. The organization accepts gold from participating countries mainly as payment for interest on loans, after which it has the right to use it to finance new loan tranches;

loans from “financially secure” member states;

funds from donor trust funds and lines of credit that open the fund to G7 and G20 countries.

Russia joined the IMF in June 1992, immediately resorting to obtaining a loan. According to eyewitnesses, during one of his first visits to the Kremlin, Clinton was amazed by the luxury of the halls and said to a colleague: “And these people are asking us for money?” Over 6 years (from August 1992 to early August 1998), Russia borrowed a total of more than $32 billion from the fund - however, the loans did not help us achieve either a projected reduction in inflation or prevent the August default of 1998. Russia repaid the loan from 2000 to 2005 years, taking advantage of rising oil prices, and since 2005 has become a creditor of the fund. The table below shows the distribution of loans in the 90s and the lender's requirements for Russia:




Financial assistance or credit needle?

Many experts argue that the recommendations of the creditor fund to the IMF borrowing countries de facto fundamentally contradict the principles and goals declared by the Charter. Instead of developing their productive potential, borrowing countries are hooked on the credit needle, and real incomes of the population do not increase - they fall.

Critics of the fund explain that the conditions for receiving IMF loans are often:

deprivation of the borrower state's right to freely issue national currency;

total privatization, including in areas of natural monopolies (housing and communal services, railway transport);

rejection of protectionist measures to protect our own producers and support for medium and small businesses;

freedom of movement of capital, allowing for their outflow abroad;

cutting spending on social programs, eliminating benefits for vulnerable groups of the population, reducing salaries in the public sector and pensions.

However, the listed measures often only aggravate the crisis in the economy; impoverishment of the population leads to a decrease in consumption, leading to a decline in production, bankruptcy of enterprises and a deterioration in the state budget. As a result, the government has to take out new loans to pay off the previous ones.

Countries most affected by IMF dependence:

Rwanda, where the refusal of state support for farms and the devaluation of the national currency led to a fall in the income of the population, pushing it into the abyss civil war Hutus and Tutsis with 1.5 million victims;

Yugoslavia, which collapsed due to problems with the economic alignment of the regions;

Argentina, which declared twice;

Mexico is the birthplace of domesticated corn, which has turned from an exporter of this agricultural crop into an importer.

According to forecasts, this list may be supplemented by Ukraine, which is being forced by the creditor fund to increase gas prices. Its rise in price not only hits the pockets of citizens, but also completely negates the competitiveness of Ukrainian commodity producers, already undermined by the unfavorable Association Agreement with the EU. Ukraine, together with Romania and Hungary, is the largest current debtor to the International Monetary Fund.

But since history has no subjunctive mood, it is impossible to assess what consequences a lack of IMF financing would have had in different countries. So the position of the fund’s defenders is something like this: maybe things didn’t work out well in some places, but without the loan it would have been even worse. And critics of the fund are attacking not the very idea of ​​providing a loan, but the conditions accompanying the loan - which in fact have an ambiguous effect on the economy and do not interfere with corruption, but in many ways look like an increase in the political influence of the main lender. And although the inefficiency of the current lending system is clear to almost everyone, real changes in such a cumbersome and politically important structure cannot happen “with the snap of a finger.” What is more useful or harmful from the IMF at the moment - everyone decides for himself.

Strauss-Kahn continues to fight for political survival, with his supporters claiming the harassment allegations are a conspiracy. At the same time, the struggle for the post of leader has already begun within the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Countries with developing economies are demanding that this prestigious place go to them, but the Europeans are not giving up their claims either.

The International Monetary Fund is a $325 billion organization headquartered in Washington. Until very recently, the IMF had only one main question- saving the euro. The fund's share of the aid packages for Greece, Ireland and Portugal amounts to 78.5 billion euros. Calmly and effectively, the fund acted as an intermediary between Europe's debtors and donors.

Following the arrest of IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn on Saturday evening New York time, the fund itself has become a plaything for various interests. The once powerful head of the IMF continues to fight for his political survival. His supporters are spreading rumors and evidence that the attempted rape charge is a Secret Service-style conspiracy. DSK - as he is sometimes called for short - did not allegedly attempt to rape a maid at the New York Sofitel Hotel, as he was allegedly having lunch with his daughter at that time.

What is established is that nothing is established. The whole world believes that there should be no rush to condemn him. Federal Chancellor Angela Merkel also said yesterday that we need to wait for the results of the investigation.

She said so, but did it differently. A few minutes later, Merkel, speaking on behalf of Europe, announced her claims to the position of head of the IMF: although in principle this is correct, and in the “medium term,” according to Merkel, countries with developing economies can lay claim to leading positions in international organizations. "However, I believe that in modern conditions“When we have a lot of discussions about the European space, there are good reasons for Europe to have good candidates at its disposal,” she emphasized.

Because there is no cost to ignoring one's own interests, Merkel offered hope to emerging economies: “The existing conditions at the IMF must reflect the balance of power in the world,” Merkel said at the G20 summit in Seoul. Shortly before this, the world's 20 major economies decided to increase the share of votes of emerging economies. The words of the head of the Eurogroup, Jean-Claude Juncker, sounded even more definite. Strauss-Kahn is “the last European” to head the IMF “for the foreseeable future,” he said back in 2007.

Countries with developing economies responded joyfully to this Western opinion. It is high time to move away from a model dominated only by industrial states, said Brazilian Finance Minister Guido Mantega.

Now comes sobering up. And after sobering up, a struggle for power begins. Berlin yesterday announced that it was conducting soundings “with our European friends” on the issue of a candidate to head the IMF.

The struggle of countries with developing economies for greater influence in the IMF began even before Strauss-Kahn's arrest. In April this year, Brazil's finance minister complained that Americans regularly run the World Bank while Europeans run the IMF. Such a system, in his opinion, is already outdated. These posts should be allocated based on ability, and the process itself should be transparent, the Brazilian demanded.

In other words, those countries that drive global growth - that is, China, India, and also Brazil - should have a chance to occupy leadership positions in the future. The share of leading developing countries in global gross domestic product over the last 20 years alone (by 2010) has increased from 10.4% to 24.2%, while the share of the seven largest industrial countries, on the contrary, has decreased from 64.9% to 50 .7%.

Therefore, back in the fall, countries with developing economies received additional votes in the IMF. Finance ministers from the 20 largest industrial and emerging economies (G20) have decided to distribute almost 6% of the voting rights previously held by industrial powers to countries such as China, India, Brazil and Russia. As a result of the reform, these four countries received more rights and more responsibility in the executive directorate of the International Monetary Fund. This reform came into force in March.

Now they demand changes on a personal level. That is why, immediately after the events with Dominique Strauss-Kahn in New York, the name of the Turkish politician Kemal Dervis began to be mentioned more and more often. The architect of Turkey's economic reforms, which began a decade ago, and a longtime senior World Bank official, comes from an emerging economy and is considered a brilliant economist. Since he is from Turkey, he could presumably be involved in building bridges between Asia, Europe and the United States.

His work at the Washington-based World Bank gave him excellent connections. And in Europe he no longer has the image of a person who primarily protects the interests of Turkey. Kemal Dervis is now seen more as an international economist who happens to have a Turkish passport.

Dervis's name was already mentioned at the annual meeting of the Asian Development Bank, which took place almost a week ago in the Vietnamese city of Hanoi. Perhaps it's time for an Asian to head the IMF. Laureate Nobel Prize Joseph Stigliz also thinks he's a great candidate, as he said in a private discussion on Monday.

The Chinese leadership is taking a rather restrained position in connection with Strauss-Kahn's impending departure, but in fact this scandal suits Beijing quite well - the European is leaving his post in disgrace, and this creates the conditions for reconsidering existing structures. The informal agreement among industrial nations that a European should always be at the helm of the International Monetary Fund is causing resentment among this rising economic power. From the Chinese point of view, this kind of arrangement is outdated and reminiscent of colonial times.

Americans and Europeans can share leadership positions between themselves because they together have enough votes to block other proposals. Even after the reform, China, being the second largest economy in the world, has 3.82% of the votes and is significantly behind the United States, which has almost 17%. These figures also reflect the share of capital invested. China would, of course, be willing to pay more for more influence, but under current rules it cannot do so.

That is why the Chinese, at meetings like the G20, constantly advocate for the introduction of a system that would more accurately reflect the economic realities existing in the world. They consider themselves fighters for the rights of other countries with developing economies, and, in addition, the Chinese secretly hope to secure a leading international role for themselves.

Other emerging economies, including India and Russia, have been much less ambitious about IMF reform. “They want to solve the problems they currently have, but they do not intend to rewrite the global rules of the game,” said Jean Pisani-Ferry, an economist at the University of Paris-Dauphine. China also assumes that it is not yet in a position to press its demands - after all, its own national currency is not yet freely convertible.

This is also why the idea is being discussed in French government circles to preserve the existing structures and instead of Strauss-Kahn, send to Washington the Minister of Finance, who has a good international reputation, Christine Lagarde. On paper she
looks like a good candidate: her work as a lawyer has brought her into contact with all the major figures in the financial world, and during the financial crisis she developed a reputation for herself as a charming but exceptionally tough negotiator. In addition, the post of head of the IMF could open up additional prospects for her - primarily taking into account the possible defeat of her boss Nicolas Sarkozy in the presidential elections in 2012. For now, judging by the official statements made, she plans to compete for the mandate of an ordinary member of parliament.

Her problem: “The DSK affair has undermined confidence in France and their candidates for high international positions,” according to Paris. DSK is an international abbreviation for Dominique Strauss-Kahn. In addition, Lagarde herself became a participant in a high-profile case, which, however, cannot be compared with the problems of Strauss-Kahn. She is accused of using her influence to achieve a favorable ruling for the famous French entrepreneur in a dispute between the state and Bernard Tapie over the sale of a stake in Adidas. This case has not received much international publicity, but it could become an obstacle if Lagarde aspires to head the IMF.

When we're talking about about such responsible positions as the head of the IMF, then the candidate will be scrutinized - and now for real - twice as carefully.