15 Most Important facts about IMF
International Monetary Fund (IMF) and International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) were established at the conference of 44 nations held at Bretton Woods, New Hampshire, USA in July 1944. These two international institutions are known as the Bretton Woods twins.
In this article we have compiled important facts about the IMF which is very important for all the competitive exams to be held in India.
- Establishment:The IMF was established in July 1944 at the United Nations Bretton Woods Conference in New Hampshire, United States.
- Founding Members:44 countries
3.Total Membership: 189 countries. Generally every member country of the IMF becomes the members of the World Bank.
Similarly a country which quits IMF is automatically expelled from the World Bank. India is founding member of the IMF.
- Headquarters: Washington, D.C.
- Primary Objectives;
(a). To Promote exchange stability throughout the world
(b). To Promote international monetary cooperation;
(c). To Facilitate the expansion and balanced growth of international trade;
(d). To Assist in the establishment of a multilateral system of payments; and
(e). Make resources available to members experiencing Balance of Payments difficulties.
- Publications: World Economic Outlook, Global Financial Stability Report, Fiscal Monitor and External Sector Report and Regional Economic Reports.
- Executive Board:24 Directors each representing a single country or groups of countries. Executive directors are representing around 189 countries. Every member country nominates a governor for attending the meetings of Board of Governors. Generally the Finance Minister of the member country is the governor at the IMF meetings.
- Staff:Approximately 2,700 from 150 countries
- Total Quotas:SDR 477 billion (US$692 billion)
- Special Drawing Right Allocation:Total global allocations of (Special Drawing Right) SDR are currently about SDR 204 billion (some $296 billion).
- SDR Basket:The value of SDR is determined by the basket of 5 currencies i.e. Euro, US Dollar, Yen, Chinese Yuan, Pound Sterling. Chinese Yuan was introduced as the 5th currency in the SDR basket in Oct. 2016.
- Currency Weightage:US dollar has highest weightage (41.73%) in deciding the value of SDR followed by the Euro (30.93%).
- Quota Share:Currently Indian quota in the IMF is 2.79%. USA has biggest quota of 17.69% followed by the Japan (6.56%).
- Lending Capacity:The IMF is able to lend around $1 trillion dollar to its member countries.
- Largest borrowers:Greece, Ukraine, Pakistan and Egypt
The IMF was established to build a framework for international economic cooperation and avoid repeating the competitive currency devaluations that contributed to the Great Depression of the 1930s.
