IMF

What is IMF (International Monetary Fund) ?

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History & Background

The IMF is an international organization which works to achieve sustainable growth and prosperity globally. Currently, in 2025, 191 countries are the members of the IMF. The organization was established in December 1945.

In July 1944 at the United Nations Bretton Woods Conference – The international leaders proposed the idea of International Monetary Fund. It began its operations in 1945. After the World War 2, it was necessary to make global economy order stable. The International Monetary Fund was established to promote post-war economic order.

The International Monetary Fund is a specialized agency of the United Nation (UN). It is the part of the UN system. It looks after the stability of the world economy and promotes healthy economic practices across all its member states.

Source – IMF Official Website

Headquarter of the International Monetary Fund = Washington, D.C. (USA)

The IMF Headquarter, Washington, D.C.

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3 Critical Missions of the IMF –

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  • 1. Furthering international monetary cooperation.
  • 2. Encourage the expansion of trade and economic growth.
  • 3. Discourage the policies that harm prosperity and economic stability.

What does International Monetary Fund do ?

  • The IMF fosters the international economic & financial stability.
  • How do they do it ? 🤔 The answer is 👇⬇️
  • The IMF encourages the economic stability by providing ‘Policy Advice’ to its member countries.
    • It monitors the economic & financial developments. On the basis of their monitoring, they provide advice and assistance to the governments of the member countries.
  • It provides financial assistance to its member nations. ‘The bailout’ package is the IMF’s financial assistance.
    • The countries in the financial crisis seek this Bailout. It is a loan given by the IMF to its member nations to resolve their economic instability.
  • Capacity development –
    • They provide training and technical assistance to help governments, so that the governments can implement better economic policies.
IMF logo
Logo of the IMF

Who provides money/funds to the IMF

  • The member countries of the International Monetary Fund contribute to the funding of the organization.
  • The member nations can fund the IMF according to their capacity.
  • The quota system is a unique way in which each country gets its share based on the relative position of the country’s global economic position. The funds contributed by a country also determine its ‘quota’ for raising loans.
  • IMF Fund = 1. member quotas + 2. credit arrangements + bilateral borrowing agreements.
  • IMF provides loans to the member countries and to do so it uses the fund which is the pool of all the contributions from member nations.

Who Runs the IMF

  • The International Monetary Fund is accountable to its member nations.
  • The Board of Governors is at the top of the organization structure.
    • Each country nominates one representative as a Governor in the IMF.
    • The Board of Gov. meets once in a year.

Top economies that are members of the IMF –

  1. USA
  2. China
  3. Germany
  4. Japan
  5. India
  6. United Kingdom
  7. France
  8. Italy
  9. Russia
  10. Canada
  11. Brazil, etc.

Read the article about – The top 10 Economies of the World (2025)

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