The IMF promotes the development of the economies of only member countries. See what "IMF" is in other dictionaries. Features of the provision of financial assistance

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

On July 22, 1944, the basis of the agreement was developed at the United Nations on monetary and financial issues ( IMF charter). The most significant contribution to the development of the concept of the IMF was made by the head of the British delegation, and Harry Dexter White is a senior official at the US Department of the Treasury. 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 the first loan. Currently, the IMF unites 188 states, and 2,500 people from 133 countries work in its structures.

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

The policy and recommendations of the IMF in relation to developing countries have been repeatedly criticized, the essence of which is that the implementation of the recommendations and conditions is ultimately aimed not at increasing the independence, stability and development of the national economy of the state, but only at linking it to international financial flows.

Objectives of the IMF International Monetary Fund

The International Monetary Fund of the IMF sets itself the following goals:

1. Promote the development of international cooperation in the monetary and financial field within the framework of a permanent institution that provides a mechanism for consultation and joint work on international monetary and financial problems.
2. To promote the expansion and balanced growth of international trade and thereby favor the achievement and maintenance of a high level of employment and real incomes, as well as the development of the productive resources of all member states, considering these actions as the priorities of economic policy.
3. Maintain stability and orderliness currency regime among member states, and avoid currencies in order to gain a competitive edge.
4. To assist in the establishment of a multilateral system of settlements for current transactions between member states, as well as in the removal of foreign exchange restrictions that impede the growth of world trade.
5. By temporarily providing the general resources of the Fund to Member States, subject to adequate guarantees, to create a state of confidence in them, thereby ensuring that imbalances in their balance of payments without the application of measures that could harm the well-being at the national or international level.
6. In line with the foregoing, shorten the duration of imbalances in the external balance of payments of member states, as well as reduce the scale of these violations.

Purpose and role of the IMF:

Main Functions of the IMF International Monetary Fund

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

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

The IMF operates the principle of "weighted" number of votes: the ability of member countries to influence the activities of the Fund by 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 SDRs of the amount of this contribution. In the event that a country bought (sold) the SDRs it received during the initial issue of SDRs, the number of its votes increases (reduces) by 1 for every 400,000 purchased (sold) SDRs. This correction is carried out by no more than ¼ of the number of votes received for the country's contribution to the Fund's capital. This arrangement ensures a decisive majority of votes for the leading states.

Decisions in the Board of Governors are usually taken by a simple majority (at least half) of the votes, and on important issues of an operational or strategic nature, by a “special majority” (respectively, 70 or 85% of the votes of the member countries). Despite some reduction in the share of 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, together with the leading Western states, has the ability to exercise control over the decision-making process in the IMF and direct its activities based on their own interests. With coordinated action, developing countries are also in a position to avoid the adoption of decisions that do not suit them. However, it is difficult for a large number of heterogeneous countries to achieve coherence. At a meeting of Fund leaders in April 2004, the intention was to "enhance the ability of developing countries and countries with economies in transition to participate more effectively in the IMF's decision-making mechanism."

An essential role in the organizational structure of the IMF is played by International Monetary and Financial Committee(IMFC; eng. International Monetary and Financial Committee). 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 in its sessions twice a year. This committee is an advisory body of the Board of Governors and does not have the 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 world monetary system and the activities of the IMF; Submits proposals to the Board of Governors to amend 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 WB and the Fund (Joint IMF - World Bank Development Committee).

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

The IMF Executive Board elects for a five-year term managing director(Eng. Managing Director), who heads the staff of the Fund (as of March 2009 - about 2478 people from 143 countries). As a rule, he represents one of the European countries. Managing Director (since July 5, 2011) - Christine Lagarde (France), her first deputy - John Lipsky (USA).

Main 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 "gold" 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 the national currency of a member country to provide credit to other countries, then the reserve share of such a country increases accordingly. The outstanding amount of loans made by a member country to the Fund under the NHS and NHA loan agreements constitutes its credit position. The reserve share and lending position together constitute the "reserve position" of an IMF member country.

2. credit shares. Funds in foreign currency that can be purchased by a member country in excess of the reserve share (in case of its full use, the IMF's holdings in the country's currency reach 100% of the quota) are divided into four credit shares, or tranches (Credit Tranches), which make up 25% of the quota . Member countries' access to IMF credit resources within the framework of credit shares is limited: the amount of the country's currency in the IMF's assets cannot exceed 200% of its quota (including 75% of the quota paid by subscription). Thus, the maximum amount of credit that a country can receive from the Fund as a result of using the reserve and loan 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 in many cases are used in amounts exceeding the limit fixed in the statute. Therefore, the concept of "upper credit shares" (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 for stand-by loans(since 1952) provide a member country with a guarantee that, within a certain amount and during the term of the agreement, subject to the agreed conditions, the country can freely receive foreign currency from the IMF in exchange for national. This practice of granting loans is the opening of a line of credit. If the use of the first credit share can be made in the form of a direct purchase of foreign currency after the approval of the request by the Fund, then the allocation of funds against the upper credit shares is usually carried out through arrangements with member countries on standby credits. From the 1950s to the mid-1970s, stand-by credit agreements 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 Facility(Eng. Extended Fund Facility) (since 1974) supplemented the reserve and credit shares. It is designed to provide loans for longer periods and in larger amounts in relation to quotas than under normal 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 fixed intervals - once every six months, quarterly or (in some cases) monthly. The main purpose of stand-by 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 rigidity increases as you move from one credit share to another. Certain conditions must be met before obtaining a loan. The obligations of the borrowing country, which provide for the implementation of appropriate financial and economic measures, are recorded in the "Letter of intent" (Letter of intent) or Memorandum of Economic and Financial Policies sent to the IMF. The course of fulfillment of obligations by the country - the recipient of the loan is monitored by periodically evaluating the special target performance criteria provided for by the agreement. These criteria can be either quantitative, referring to certain macroeconomic indicators, or structural, reflecting institutional changes. If the IMF considers that a country uses a loan in contradiction with the goals of the Fund, does not fulfill its obligations, it may limit its lending, refuse to provide the next tranche. Thus, this mechanism allows the IMF to exert economic pressure on borrowing countries.

It should be borne in mind that votes in making decisions on the Fund's actions are distributed in proportion to contributions. To approve the Fund's decisions, 85% of the votes are required. The US has about 17% of all votes. This is not enough for independent decision-making, but allows you to block any decision of the Foundation. The US Senate may pass a bill that would prohibit the International Monetary Fund from doing certain things, such as making loans to countries. As the Chinese economist Professor Shi Jianxun points out, the redistribution of quotas does not at all change the basic framework of the organization and the balance of power in it, the US share remains the same, they have the right to veto: "The United States, as before, leads the order of the IMF" .

The IMF provides loans with a number of requirements - freedom of movement of capital, privatization (including natural monopolies - rail transport and utilities), minimization or even elimination of government spending on social programs - education, health care, cheaper housing, public transport, etc. P.; refusal to protect the environment; reduction of salaries, restriction of the rights of workers; increased tax pressure on the poor, etc. [ ]

According to Michel Chosudovsky, [ ]

IMF-sponsored programs since then have consistently continued to destroy the industrial sector and have gradually dismantled the Yugoslav welfare state. The restructuring agreements increased the external debt and provided the mandate for the devaluation of the Yugoslav currency, which hit hard on Yugoslav living standards. This initial round of restructuring laid the foundations for it. During the 1980s, the IMF periodically prescribed further doses of its bitter "economic therapy" while the Yugoslav economy slowly slipped into a coma. Industrial production fell by 10%

IMF- intergovernmental monetary and credit organization to promote international monetary cooperation on the basis of consultations of its members and the provision of loans to them.

It was created by decision of the Bretton Woods Conference in 1944 with the participation of delegates from 44 countries. The IMF began functioning in May 1946.

The International Monetary Fund collects and processes statistical data on international payments, foreign exchange resources, the amount of foreign exchange reserves, etc. The IMF Charter obliges countries, when receiving loans, to provide information on the state of the country's economy, gold and foreign exchange reserves, etc. In addition, the country that took the loan must comply with the recommendations of the IMF to improve its economy.

The main task of the IMF is to maintain world stability. In addition, the tasks of the IMF include informing all members of the IMF about changes in the financial and other member countries.

More than 180 countries of the world are members of the IMF. When joining the IMF, each country contributes a certain amount of money as a membership fee, which is called a quota.

• education for lending to participating countries;
• determining the amount that a country can receive in the event of financial difficulties;
• determining the number of votes a participating country receives.

Quotas are reviewed periodically. The United States has the highest quota and, accordingly, the number of votes (it is just over 17%).

The procedure for granting loans

The IMF provides loans only for stabilizing the economy, bringing it out of the crisis, but not for economic development.

The procedure for granting a loan is as follows: they are provided for a period of 3 to 5 years at a slightly lower market rate. The transfer of the loan is carried out in installments, tranches. The interval between tranches can be from one to three years. This procedure is designed to control the use of credit. If the country does not fulfill its obligations to the IMF, then the transfer of the next tranche is postponed.

Before granting a loan, the IMF conducts a system of consultations. Several representatives of the fund travel to the country that has applied for a loan, collect statistical information on various economic indicators (price levels, employment levels, tax revenues, etc.) and compile a Report on the results of the study. Then the Report is discussed at a meeting of the IMF Executive Board, which develops recommendations and proposals for improving the country's economic situation.

• Promote the development of international cooperation in the monetary and financial field within the framework of a permanent institution that provides a mechanism for consultation and joint work on international monetary and financial problems.
• To promote the process of expansion and balanced growth of international trade and thereby achieve and maintain a high level of employment and real incomes, as well as the development of the productive resources of all Member States.
• promote currency stability, maintain an orderly exchange regime among member states and avoid using currency devaluations to gain competitive advantage.
• Assist in the establishment of a multilateral system of settlements for current transactions between member countries, as well as in elimination of currency restrictions that hinder growth.
• By temporarily making the Fund's general resources available to Member States, subject to adequate safeguards, to create a state of confidence in them, thus ensuring the ability to correct imbalances in their balance of payments without resorting to measures that could be detrimental to welfare at the national or international level.

Organization of the IMF

The International Monetary Fund, IMF (International Monetary Fund, IMF), like the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, IBRD (later the World Bank), is a Bretton Woods international organization. The IMF and IBRD formally belong to the specialized agencies of the UN, but from the very beginning of their activity they rejected the coordinating and leading role of the UN, referring to the complete independence of their financial sources.

The creation of these two structures was initiated by the Council on Foreign Relations, one of the most influential semi-secret organizations traditionally associated with the implementation of the mondialist project.

The task of creating such structures matured as the end of the Second World War and the collapse of the colonial system approached. The question of the formation of a post-war international monetary and financial system and the creation of appropriate international institutions, in particular an interstate organization that would be designed to regulate currency and settlement relations between countries, became topical. The US bankers were especially persistent in this.

Plans for the creation of a special body to "regularize" currency and settlement relations were developed by the United States and Great Britain. In the American plan, it was proposed to establish a "United Nations Stabilization Fund", the member states of which would have to undertake obligations not to change, without the consent of the Fund, the exchange rates and parities of their currencies, expressed in gold and a special monetary unit, not to establish currency restrictions on current operations and not enter into any bilateral ("discriminatory") clearing and payment agreements. In turn, the Fund would provide them with short-term loans in foreign currency to cover current balance of payments deficits.

This plan was beneficial to the United States - an economically powerful power, with a higher competitiveness of goods compared to other countries and a stable active balance of payments at that time.

An alternative English plan, developed by the famous economist J. M. Keynes, envisaged the creation of an "international clearing union" - a credit and settlement center designed to carry out international settlements with the help of a special supranational currency ("bancor") and ensure balance in payments, especially between the United States and all other states. Within the framework of this union, it was supposed to preserve closed currency groupings, in particular the sterling zone. The aim of the plan, designed to preserve the position of Great Britain in the countries of the British Empire, was to strengthen its monetary and financial positions largely at the expense of American financial resources and with minimal concessions to the US ruling circles in matters of monetary policy.

Both plans were considered at the Monetary and Financial Conference of the United Nations, held in Bretton Woods (USA) from July 1 to July 22, 1944. Representatives of 44 states took part in the conference. The struggle that unfolded at the conference ended in the defeat of Great Britain.

The final act of the conference included the Articles of Agreement (charter) on the International Monetary Fund and on the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development. December 27, 1945 The Articles of Agreement on the International Monetary Fund officially entered into force. In practice, the IMF began operations on March 1, 1947.

The money for the creation of this supra-governmental organization came from J.P. Morgan, J.D. Rockefeller, P. Warburg, J. Schiff and other "international bankers".

The USSR took part in the Bretton Woods conference, but did not ratify the Articles of Agreement on the IMF.

IMF activities

The IMF is designed to regulate the monetary and credit relations of member states and provide short- and medium-term loans in foreign currency. The International Monetary Fund provides most of its loans in US dollars. During its existence, the IMF has become the main supranational body for regulating international monetary and financial relations. The seat of the governing bodies of the IMF is Washington (USA). This is quite symbolic - in the future it will be seen that the IMF is almost completely controlled by the United States and the countries of the Western alliance and, accordingly, in terms of management and operational terms - by the FRS. It is no coincidence, therefore, that the real benefit from the activities of the IMF is also received by these actors and, first of all, by the “club of beneficiaries” mentioned above.

The official objectives of the IMF are as follows:

• “to promote international cooperation in the monetary and financial sphere”;
• "to promote the expansion and balanced growth of international trade" in the interests of developing productive resources, achieving a high level of employment and real incomes of member states;
• “ensure the stability of currencies, maintain orderly monetary relations among member states and prevent the depreciation of currencies in order to obtain competitive advantages”;
• assist in the creation of a multilateral system of settlements between member states, as well as in the elimination of currency restrictions;
• provide temporary foreign exchange funds to member states that would enable them to "correct imbalances in their balance of payments".

However, based on the facts characterizing the results of the IMF's activities throughout its history, a different, real picture of its goals is reconstructed. They again allow us to speak of a system of global money-grubbing in favor of a minority that controls the World Monetary Fund.

As of May 25, 2011, 187 states are members of the IMF. Each country has a quota expressed in SDRs. The quota determines the amount of capital subscriptions, the possibilities of using the resources of the fund and the amount of SDRs received by the member state at their next distribution. The capital of the International Monetary Fund has been steadily increasing since its inception, with the quotas of the most economically developed member countries increasing especially rapidly (Fig. 6.3).

The largest quotas in the IMF are the USA (42122.4 million SDRs), Japan (15628.5 million SDRs) and Germany (14565.5 million SDRs), the smallest - Tuvalu (1.8 million SDRs). The IMF operates the principle of a "weighted" number of votes, when decisions are made not by a majority of equal votes, but by the largest "donors" (Fig. 6.4).

Combined, the US and Western alliance countries have more than 50% of the vote against a few percent of China, India, Russia, Latin American or Islamic countries. From which it is obvious that the former have a monopoly on decision-making, i.e. the IMF, like the Fed, is controlled by these countries. When critical strategic issues are raised, including reform of the IMF itself, only the United States has a veto.

The United States, along with other developed countries, has a simple majority of votes in the IMF. For the past 65 years, the countries of Europe and other economically prosperous countries have always voted in solidarity with the United States. Thus, it becomes clear in whose interests the IMF functions and by whom it implements its geopolitical goals.

Requirements of the Articles of Agreement (Charter) of the IMF/Members of the IMF

Joining the IMF necessarily requires the country to comply with the rules governing its foreign economic relations. The Articles of Agreement set out the universal obligations of member states. The statutory requirements of the IMF are aimed primarily at the liberalization of foreign economic activity, in particular, the monetary and financial sphere. It is obvious that the liberalization of the external economies of developing countries provides enormous advantages to economically developed countries, opening up markets for their more competitive products. At the same time, the economies of developing countries, which, as a rule, need protectionist measures, suffer heavy losses, entire industries (not related to the sale of raw materials) become inefficient and die. In section 7.3, statistical generalization allows you to see such results.

The Charter requires member states to eliminate currency restrictions and maintain the convertibility of national currencies. Article VIII contains the obligations of member states not to impose, without the consent of the fund, restrictions on making payments on current operations of the balance of payments, and also to refrain from participating in discriminatory exchange agreements and not resorting to the practice of multiple exchange rates.

If in 1978 46 countries (1/3 of the IMF members) assumed obligations under Article VIII to prevent foreign exchange restrictions, then in April 2004 there were already 158 countries (more than 4/5 of the members).

In addition, the IMF charter obliges member countries to cooperate with the fund in the conduct of exchange rate policy. Although the Jamaican amendments to the charter gave countries the opportunity to choose any exchange rate regime, in practice the IMF is taking measures to establish a floating exchange rate for leading currencies and peg the currencies of developing countries to them (primarily the US dollar), in particular, it introduces a currency board regime. ). It is interesting to note that China's return to a fixed exchange rate in 2008 (Figure 6.5), which caused strong IMF displeasure, is one of the explanations for why the global financial and economic crisis did not actually affect China.

Russia, in its “anti-crisis” financial and economic policy, followed the instructions of the IMF, and the impact of the crisis on the Russian economy turned out to be the heaviest not only in comparison with comparable countries of the world, but even in comparison with the vast majority of countries in the world.

The IMF exercises constant "strict surveillance" of the macroeconomic and monetary policies of member countries, as well as the state of the world economy.

The highest governing body in the IMF is the Board of Governors, in which each member country is represented by a governor (usually finance ministers or central bankers) and his deputy.

The Council is responsible for resolving key issues of the IMF's activities: amending the Articles of Agreement, admitting and expelling member countries, determining and revising their shares in the capital, and electing executive directors. The Governors meet in session, usually once a year, but may meet and vote by mail at any time.

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 IMF, including a wide range of political, operational and administrative matters, in particular lending to member countries and overseeing their policies in the area of ​​the exchange rate.

Since 1992, 24 executive directors have been represented on the executive board. Currently, out of 24 executive directors, 5 (21%) have an American education. The IMF's Executive Board elects a Managing Director for a five-year term, who leads the Fund's staff and serves as Chairman of the Executive Board. Among 32 representatives of the top management of the IMF, 16 (50%) were educated in the USA, 1 worked in a transnational corporation, 1 taught at an American university.

The Managing Director of the IMF, according to informal arrangements, is always European, and his first deputy is always American.

Role of the IMF

The IMF provides loans in foreign currency to member countries for two purposes: first, to cover the balance of payments deficit, that is, in fact, to replenish official foreign exchange reserves; secondly, to support macroeconomic stabilization and restructuring of the economy, and hence - to lend to government budget expenditures.

A country in need of foreign currency purchases or borrows foreign currency or SDRs in exchange for an equivalent amount in domestic currency, which is credited to the IMF's account with its central bank as a depositary. At the same time, the IMF, as noted, provides loans mainly in US dollars.

During the first two decades of its activity (1947–1966), the IMF lent more to developed countries, which accounted for 56.4% of the amount of loans (including 41.5% of the funds received by the UK). Since the 1970s The IMF has refocused its activities on lending to developing countries (Figure 6.7).

It is interesting to note the time limit (the end of the 1970s), after which the world neo-colonial system actively began to form, replacing the collapsed colonial one. The main mechanisms for lending at the expense of the IMF resources are as follows.

reserve share. The first "portion" of foreign currency, which a member state can purchase from the IMF within 25% of the quota, was called "gold" before the Jamaica Agreement, and since 1978 - a reserve share (reserve tranche).

credit shares. Funds in foreign currency, which can be acquired by a member state in excess of the reserve share, are divided into four credit shares or tranches (credit tranches), each constituting 25% of the quota. Member states' access to IMF credit resources within the framework of credit shares is limited: the amount of the country's currency in the IMF's assets cannot exceed 200% of its quota (including 75% of the quota contributed by subscription). The maximum amount of credit that a country can receive from the IMF as a result of using the reserve and lending share is 125% of its quota.

Stand-by stand-by arrangements. This mechanism has been used since 1952. This practice of providing loans is the opening of a credit line. Since the 1950s and until the mid 1970s. standby loan agreements had a term of up to a year, from 1977 - up to 18 months, later - up to 3 years, due to an increase in balance of payments deficits.

Extended Fund Facility has been in use since 1974. This facility provides loans for even longer periods (for 3–4 years) in larger amounts. The use of stand-by loans and extended loans - the most common credit mechanisms before the global financial and economic crisis - is associated with the fulfillment by the borrowing state of certain conditions that require it to carry out certain financial and economic (and often political) measures. At the same time, the degree of rigidity of the conditions increases as you move from one credit share to another. Certain conditions must be met before obtaining a loan.

If the IMF considers that a country is using a loan “contrary to the goals of the fund”, does not fulfill the requirements put forward, it can limit its further lending, refuse to provide the next loan tranche. This mechanism allows the IMF to effectively manage the borrowing country.

After the expiration of the established period, the borrowing state is obliged to repay the debt (“purchase” the national currency from the Fund) by returning the funds to it in SDRs or foreign currencies. Repayment of stand-by loans is made within 3 years and 3 months - 5 years from the date of receipt of each tranche, with extended lending - 4.5–10 years. In order to speed up the turnover of its capital, the IMF “encourages” faster repayment of loans received by debtors.

In addition to these standard facilities, the IMF has special lending facilities. They differ in purposes, conditions and cost of loans. Special lending facilities include the following. Compensatory lending facility, MCC (compensatory i nancing facility, CFF), is designed for lending to countries whose balance of payments deficit is caused by temporary and external reasons beyond their control. The Supplemental Reserve Facility (SRF) was introduced in December 1997 to provide funds to member countries experiencing "exceptional difficulties" with their balance of payments and in dire need of expanded short-term lending due to a sudden loss of confidence in the currency, which causes the flight of capital from the country and a sharp reduction in its gold and foreign exchange reserves. It is assumed that this credit should be provided in cases where capital flight could create a potential threat to the entire global monetary system.

Emergency assistance is designed to help overcome the deficit in the balance of payments caused by unpredictable natural disasters (since 1962) and crises resulting from civil unrest or military-political conflicts (since 1995). The emergency financing mechanism, EFM (since 1995) is a set of procedures that ensure the accelerated provision of loans by the fund to member countries in the event of an emergency crisis in the field of international settlements, which requires immediate assistance from the IMF.

The Trade Integration Support Mechanism (TIM) was established in April 2004 in response to possible temporary negative consequences for a number of developing countries of the results of negotiations on further expansion of international trade liberalization within the framework of the Doha Round of the World Trade Organization. This mechanism is designed to provide financial support to countries whose balance of payments is deteriorating due to measures taken towards the liberalization of trade policies by other countries. However, IPTI is not an independent credit mechanism in the truest sense of the word, but a certain political setting.

Such a wide representation of the IMF's multi-purpose loans indicates that the fund offers borrowing countries its instruments in almost any situation.

For the poorest countries (those with GDP per capita below a set threshold) that are unable to pay the interest on conventional loans, the IMF provides concessional “aid” even though the share of concessional loans in total IMF lending is extremely small (Figure 6.8).

In addition, the implicit solvency guarantee provided by the IMF as a "bonus" along with the loan extends to more economically strong players in the international arena. Even a small IMF loan facilitates the country's access to the world loan capital market, helps to obtain loans from the governments of developed countries, central banks, the World Bank Group, the Bank for International Settlements, as well as from private commercial banks. Conversely, the refusal of the IMF to provide credit support to the country closes its access to the loan capital market. In such circumstances, countries are simply forced to turn to the IMF, even if they understand that the conditions put forward by the IMF will have deplorable consequences for the national economy.

On fig. 6.8 also shows that at the beginning of its activity, the IMF as a creditor played a rather modest role. However, since the 1970s there was a significant expansion of its lending activities.

Loan conditions

The granting of loans by the Fund to member states is connected with the fulfillment by them of certain political and economic conditions. This procedure was called the "conditionality" of loans. Officially, the IMF justifies this practice by the need to be sure that the borrowing countries will be able to repay their debts, ensuring the uninterrupted circulation of the Fund's resources. In fact, a mechanism for external management of the borrowing states has been built.

Since the IMF is dominated by monetarist, more broadly neoliberal, theoretical views, its “practical” stabilization programs usually include cutting government spending, including for social purposes, eliminating or reducing government subsidies for food, consumer goods and services (which leads to higher prices on these goods), increasing taxes on personal income (while reducing taxes on business), curbing growth or “freezing” wages, raising interest rates, limiting investment lending, liberalizing foreign economic relations, devaluing the national currency, followed by appreciation imported goods, etc.

The concept of economic policy, which is now the content of the conditions for obtaining IMF loans, was formed in the 1980s. in the circles of leading economists and business circles in the United States, as well as other Western countries, and is known as the "Washington Consensus".

It involves such structural changes in economic systems as the privatization of enterprises, the introduction of market pricing, and the liberalization of foreign economic activity. The IMF sees the main (if not the only) reason for the imbalance of the economy, the imbalance in international settlements of the borrowing countries in the excess aggregate effective demand in the country, caused primarily by the state budget deficit and excessive expansion of the money supply.

The implementation of IMF programs most often leads to a curtailment of investments, a slowdown in economic growth, and an aggravation of social problems. This is due to the decline in real wages and living standards, the growth of unemployment, the redistribution of income in favor of the rich at the expense of less well-off groups of the population, and the growth of property differentiation.

As for the former socialist states, an obstacle to solving their macroeconomic problems, from the point of view of the IMF, are institutional and structural defects, therefore, when granting a loan, the Fund focuses its requirements on the implementation of long-term structural changes in their economic and political systems.

The IMF is pursuing a very ideological policy. In fact, it finances the restructuring and inclusion of national economies in global speculative capital flows, i.e. their "binding" to the global financial metropolis.

With the expansion of credit operations in the 1980s. The IMF has taken a course on tightening their conditionality. It was then that the use of structural conditions in IMF programs became widespread, in the 1990s. it has increased significantly.

It is not surprising that the recommendations of the IMF to the recipient countries in most cases are directly opposite to the anti-crisis policy of developed countries (Table 6.1), which practice countercyclical measures - the drop in demand from households and businesses in them is compensated by increased government spending (benefits, subsidies, etc.). n) by expanding the budget deficit and increasing public debt. In the midst of the global financial and economic crisis in 2008, the IMF supported such a policy in the US, the EU and China, but prescribed a different “medicine” for its “patients”. "31 out of 41 IMF bailout agreements are pro-cyclical, that is, tighter monetary or fiscal policy," according to a report from the Washington-based Center for Economic and Policy Research.

These double standards have always existed and many times led to large-scale crises in developing countries. The application of the IMF recommendations is focused on the formation of a monopolar model for the development of the world community.

The role of the IMF in regulating international monetary and financial relations

The IMF periodically makes changes to the world monetary system. First, the IMF acted as a conductor of the policy adopted by the West at the initiative of the United States to demonetize gold and weaken its role in the world monetary system. Initially, the IMF Articles of Agreement gave gold an important place in its liquid resources. The first step towards eliminating gold from the post-war international monetary mechanism was the cessation by the United States in August 1971 of gold sales for dollars owned by the authorities of other countries. In 1978, the IMF charter was amended to prohibit member countries from using gold as a medium of expression for the value of their currencies; at the same time, the official dollar price of gold and the gold content of the SDR unit were abolished.

The International Monetary Fund has played a leading role in expanding the influence of transnational corporations and banks in countries with transitional and developing economies. Providing these countries in the 1990s. borrowed resources of the IMF to a large extent contributed to the activation of the activities of transnational corporations and banks in these countries.

In connection with the process of globalization of financial markets, the executive board in 1997 initiated the development of new amendments to the Articles of Agreement of the IMF in order to make the liberalization of capital movements a special goal of the IMF, to include them in its sphere of competence, i.e. to extend to them the requirement to abolish foreign exchange restrictions. The Interim Committee of the IMF adopted at its session in Hong Kong on September 21, 1997, a special statement on the liberalization of capital movements, calling on the executive board to expedite work on amendments in order to "add a new chapter to the Bretton Woods agreement." However, the development of the world currency and financial crises in 1997-1998. slowed down this process. Some countries have been forced to introduce capital controls. Nevertheless, the IMF maintains a principled approach to the removal of restrictions on the international movement of capital.

In the context of the analysis of the causes of the 2008 global financial crisis, it is also important to note that the International Monetary Fund relatively recently (since 1999) came to the conclusion that it is necessary to extend its area of ​​responsibility to the sphere of functioning of world financial markets and financial systems.

The emergence of the IMF's intention to regulate international financial relations caused changes in its organizational structure. First, in September 1999, the International Monetary and Financial Committee was formed, which became a permanent body for strategic planning of the IMF on issues related to the functioning of the world monetary and financial system.

In 1999, the IMF and the World Bank adopted a joint Financial Sector Assessment Program (FSAP) to provide member countries with a tool to assess the health of their financial systems.

In 2001, the Department for International Capital Markets was established. In June 2006, the United Department of Monetary Systems and Capital Markets Department (MSCMD) was established. Less than 10 years have passed since the inclusion of the global financial sector in the competence of the IMF and from the beginning of its "regulation", when the most massive global financial crisis in history erupted.

The IMF and the global financial and economic crisis of 2008

It is impossible not to note one fundamental point. In 2007, this world's largest financial institution was in a deep crisis. At that time, practically no one took or expressed a desire to take loans from the IMF. In addition, even those countries that received loans earlier tried to get rid of this financial burden as soon as possible. As a result, the size of ordinary outstanding loans fell to a record for the 21st century. marks - less than 10 billion SDRs (Fig. 6.9).

The world community, with the exception of the beneficiaries of the IMF activities represented by the United States and other economically developed countries, actually abandoned the IMF mechanism. And then something happened. Namely, the global financial and economic crisis broke out. The number of new loan arrangements, which had been approaching zero before the crisis, increased at a rate unprecedented in the fund's history (Figure 6.10).

The crisis that began in 2008 literally saved the IMF from collapse. Is this a coincidence? One way or another, the global financial and economic crisis of 2008 was extremely beneficial for the International Monetary Fund, and therefore, for those countries in whose interests it functions.

After the 2008 global crisis, it became clear that the IMF needed to be reformed. By the beginning of 2010, the total losses of the global financial system exceeded $4 trillion (about 12% of the world's gross domestic product), two thirds of which are generated in bad assets of American banks.

In what direction did the reform go? First of all, the IMF tripled its resources. Since the London G20 summit in April 2009, the IMF has secured a whopping additional $500 billion in additional lending reserves, on top of the $250 billion it already has, although it is using less than $100 billion for aid programs. After the crisis it has become clear that the IMF wants to assume even more authority to manage the world economy and finances.

The trend is to gradually turn the IMF into a macroeconomic policy oversight body in almost every country in the world. It is obvious that in the conditions of such a "reform" new world crises are inevitable.

In this chapter of the monograph, the material of the dissertation of M.V. Deeva.

Strauss-Kahn continues to fight for political survival, with supporters claiming the harassment allegations are a conspiracy. At the same time, within the International Monetary Fund (IMF) itself, the struggle for the post of head has already begun. Emerging economies demand that this prestigious seat be given to them, but the Europeans do not give up their claims either.

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

After the arrest of the head of the IMF, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, which was carried out on Saturday evening, New York time, the fund itself became a toy for representatives of 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 it is sometimes abbreviated - did not allegedly attempt to rape the maid at New York's Sofitel hotel, as he allegedly dined with his daughter at that time.

Installed that nothing is installed. It is believed throughout the world that one should not rush to condemn him. Federal Chancellor Angela Merkel also said yesterday that the results of the investigation should be awaited.

She said so, but she 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 claim leading positions in international organizations. “However, I believe that in today's 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 stressed.

Since ignoring one's own interests costs nothing, Merkel gave hope to emerging economies: "The conditions in the IMF should reflect the balance of power in the world," Merkel said at the G20 summit in Seoul. Shortly before this, the 20 major economies of the world decided to increase the share of the vote of countries with developing economies. The words of the head of the Eurogroup Jean-Claude Juncker (Jean-Cluade 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 have responded joyfully to this opinion of the West. It is high time to move away from a model dominated only by industrialized states, said Brazilian Finance Minister Guido Mantega.

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

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

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

Therefore, back in the fall, countries with developing economies received additional votes in the IMF. The finance ministers of the 20 largest industrialized and emerging economies (G20) have decided to distribute almost 6% of the voting rights previously held by industrial powers among 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. In March, this reform came into force.

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

His work at the Washington-based World Bank has provided him with 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 hold a Turkish passport.

Dervis' 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. Maybe it's time for an Asian to head the IMF. Nobel laureate Joseph Stiglitz also thinks he's an excellent candidate, as he said in a private discussion on Monday.

The Chinese leadership is rather reserved in connection with the threatening departure of Strauss-Kahn, but in fact, this scandal suits Beijing quite well - the European leaves his post in disgrace, and this creates the conditions for reviewing the existing structures. The informal agreement of the industrialized states that the European should always be at the head of the International Monetary Fund is irritating this rising economic power. From the Chinese point of view, this kind of arrangement is outdated and reminiscent of the times of colonialism.

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

That is why the Chinese, at meetings like the G20, are constantly advocating the introduction of a system that would more accurately reflect the world's economic realities. They see themselves as fighting for the rights of other emerging economies, and besides, the Chinese secretly hope to secure a leading international role in this way.

Other emerging economies, including India and Russia, are far less ambitious about IMF reform. "They want to solve the problems they currently have, but they don't intend to rewrite the global rules of the game," said Paris-Dauphine University economist Jean Pisani-Ferry. 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 French government circles are discussing the idea of ​​keeping the existing structures and instead of Strauss-Kahn sending an internationally reputed Treasury Secretary Christine Lagarde to Washington. On paper, she
looks like a very suitable candidate: while working as a lawyer, she met all the major figures in the financial world, and during the financial crisis she earned herself a reputation as a charming but exceptionally tough negotiating partner. In addition, the post of head of the IMF could open up additional prospects for her, especially given the possible defeat of her boss, Nicolas Sarkozy, in the 2012 presidential election. So far, judging by the official statements made, she plans to compete for the mandate of a simple member of parliament.

Her problem: "The DSK case has undermined the credibility of France and their candidates for high international positions," they say in Paris. DSC is the internationally accepted 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 win a favorable ruling for the well-known 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 may become an obstacle in the event that Lagarde will apply for the post of head of the IMF.

When it comes to such responsible positions as the head of the IMF, the candidate will be screened - and now for real - twice as carefully.