The International Monetary Fund was created by the decision. International Monetary Fund (IMF)

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a special agency of the United Nations, established by 184 states. The IMF was created on December 27, 1945 after the signing by 28 states of an agreement developed at the UN Monetary and Financial Conference in Bretton Woods on July 22, 1944. In 1947, the foundation began its activities. The headquarters of the IMF is located in Washington, USA.

the IMF is international organization, which unites 184 states. The fund was created to provide international cooperation in the monetary sphere and maintaining the stability of exchange rates; support economic development and the level of employment in the countries of the world; and providing additional in cash economy of a country in the short run. Since the IMF was created, its purposes have not changed, but its functions - which include monitoring the state of the economy, financial and technical assistance to countries - have evolved significantly to meet the changing goals of the member countries that are the subjects of the world economy.

IMF Membership Growth, 1945-2003
(number of countries)

The objectives of the International Monetary Fund are:

• To ensure international cooperation in the monetary sphere through a network of permanent institutions that advise and take part in solving many financial problems.
• To promote the development and balanced growth of international trade, and to contribute to the promotion and maintenance of a high level of employment and real income, and to develop the productive forces in all member countries of the Fund as the primary objects of economic policy.
• Ensure the stability of exchange rates, maintain correct exchange agreements between participants and avoid various discriminations in this area.
• Help build a multilateral payment system for current transactions between fund member countries and to remove restrictions on foreign exchange that hinder the growth of international trade.
• Provide support to member states of the fund by providing funds to the fund to solve temporary problems in the economy.
• In line with the above, shorten the duration and reduce the degree of imbalance in the international balances of the accounts of its members.

Role of the International Monetary Fund

The IMF helps countries develop their economies and implement selected economic projects through three main functions - lending, technical assistance and monitoring.

Providing loans. The IMF provides financial assistance to low-income countries experiencing balance of payments problems through the Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility (PRGF) and, for temporary needs arising from external shocks, the Exogenous Shocks Facility (ESF). Interest rate under PRGF and ESF concessional (only 0.5 percent), and loans are repaid over 10 years.

Other functions of the IMF:

• promotion of international cooperation in monetary policy
• expansion of world trade
• stabilization of monetary exchange rates
• advising debtor countries (debtors)
• development of international financial statistics standards
• collection and publication of international financial statistics

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 acquired 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 early period activities of the IMF, and amounts exceeding the first loan share.

3. Stand-by Arrangements (since 1952) provide a member country with a guarantee that, within a certain amount and for the duration of the arrangement, subject to agreed conditions, the country can freely receive foreign currency from the IMF in exchange for the national one. 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. The 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 relevant financial and economic measures, are recorded in the "Letter of intent" or the 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.

Unlike the World Bank, the IMF focuses on relatively short-term macroeconomic crises. The World Bank provides loans only to poor countries, the IMF can lend to any of its member countries that lacks foreign exchange to cover short-term financial obligations.

Structure of governing bodies

The supreme governing body of the IMF is the Board of Governors, in which each member country is represented by a governor and his deputy. Usually these are finance ministers or central bankers. The Council is in charge of resolving key issues of the Fund's activities: amending the Articles of the 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 authorized capital is about 217 billion SDRs (as of January 2008, 1 SDR was equal to about 1.5 US dollars). It is formed by contributions from member countries, each of which usually pays approximately 25% of its quota in SDRs or in the currency of other members, and the remaining 75% in its national currency. Based on the size of quotas, votes are distributed among member countries in the governing bodies of the IMF.

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

The largest number of votes in the IMF (as of June 16, 2006) are: USA - 17.08% (16.407% - 2011); Germany - 5.99%; Japan - 6.13% (6.46% - 2011); UK - 4.95%; France - 4.95%; Saudi Arabia - 3.22%; China - 2.94% (6.394% - 2011); Russia - 2.74%. The share of 15 EU member countries is 30.3%, 29 member countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development have a total of 60.35% of the votes in the IMF. The share of other countries, which make up over 84% of the number of members of the Fund, accounts for only 39.65%.

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 1/4 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 by important issues those 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, reaching agreement a large number heterogeneous countries is difficult. 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 organizational structure The IMF plays the International Monetary and Financial Committee (IMFC; International Monetary and Financial Committee). From 1974 until September 1999, its predecessor was the Interim Committee on 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).

Board of Governors (1999) The Board of Governors delegates many of its powers to the Executive Board, that is, the directorate responsible for the conduct of the IMF's affairs, which includes a wide range of political, operational and administrative matters, in particular the provision of loans to member countries and overseeing their exchange rate policies.

The IMF's Executive Board elects for a five-year term a Managing Director who leads the Fund's staff (as of March 2009, about 2,478 people from 143 countries). It usually represents one of European countries. Managing Director (since July 5, 2011) - Christine Lagarde (France), her first deputy - John Lipsky (USA). Head of the IMF Resident Mission in Russia - Odd Per Brekk.

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 is engaged in the collection and processing of 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, a country that has taken a 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 sphere 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.
• To 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.

International Monetary Fund, IMF(eng. International Monetary Fund, IMF listen)) 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 conducting 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 acquired 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 relevant 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), minimizing or even eliminating government spending on social programs - education, health care, cheaper housing, public transport etc.; waiver of protection 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 reached a 10% drop in

The International Monetary Fund is a financial institution, despite the status of a UN special agency, which has gained notoriety. What is the IMF like, what are its functions according to the founding documents and in practice, how fair are the critics who call the fund's financial assistance disastrous for the economy of the countries it lends to?

The creation of the IMF, the goals of the fund

The concept of a monetary fund, whose mission will be to support financial stability throughout the world, called the "Charter of the IMF" 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 cooperation after the emerging 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 countries of the IMF officially signed the final version of the corresponding agreement. De facto, the activities of the organization began only on March 1, 1947, when France took the first IMF loan. Today, the IMF unites 188 states, and the headquarters of the fund is located in Washington.

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

promotion of cooperation of all countries in the monetary and financial sphere, joint solution of financial problems;

assistance in achieving and maintaining a high level of real incomes and employment of the population of the countries of the world, 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 foreign exchange restrictions that stand in the way of the growth of world trade;

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

to reduce the duration of imbalances in the balance of payments of member countries, while 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), however, lending often does not contribute to the development of the real sector of the economy and the production of competitive products. The following shows the disbursement of the fund various countries since 1972 for 40 years, i.e. from expiration date:

In the first post-war years, Europe was the main borrower of the fund to restore the economy that had suffered during the war. Since the early 1980s, the focus 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 coming back to Europe, mainly Eastern.

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, respectively, the impact of the IMF on world economy and politics greatly diminished. However, already in 2011, lending quickly recovered its volumes, which continued to grow further, including in connection with the Cypriot and Greek crisis.

From the graph, the IMF policy is clearly visible - to help all (not just poor) countries, focusing on current problems. At the same time, by the way, the complete or almost complete absence of loans to African countries is interesting. Any country in 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 grew 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 drawing rights" (eng. Special drawing rights, SDR). The scale at the top is in billions of SDRs. Formally, it is neither a debt obligation nor a currency.

The SDR rate has been pegged to a basket of 5 currencies since 2016 and is similar to . Nevertheless, there are differences - perhaps the main one 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 exchange rate is 1.45 US dollars. You can see 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 the 1st article of the IMF Charter:

expansion of international trade;

assistance to countries in the form of loans;

promotion of interstate interaction in monetary policy;

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

stabilization of exchange rates;

advising debtor countries;

development and implementation of world financial statistics standards;

collection, processing and publication of said statistics.

It is interesting that prominent economists criticize 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 the statistics published by the fund, as well as analytical reports.

Structure of the International Monetary Fund

The management of the fund 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 consists of two authorized persons from each Member State - the manager and his deputy;

An executive board of 24 directors who represent certain member states or groups of countries. head executive body- the executive director is invariably the plenipotentiary of Europe, and his first deputy is a US citizen. Eight directors are delegated by the states with the largest quotas in the IMF, the remaining 16 are elected by other participating countries, divided into the corresponding 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 regarding the global monetary and financial system;

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

Capitalization of the IMF and sources of funds of the fund

As of March 1, 2016, the size of the authorized capital of the IMF was about 467.2 billion SDR. The capital is formed by contributions to the currency fund of the 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 reviewed - since the beginning of the fund's activities, there have already been 15 revisions. In 2015, there was another change with the delegation of about 6% from 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 of the quota (for 2016, a contribution of about 42 billion SDRs) belongs to the United States of America, giving them an exclusive right of veto. Japan, which is in second place, has a quota almost three times lower - about 6%. The share of Russia is 2.7% (a contribution of about 6.5 billion SDR). So it is extremely difficult to call the 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 them, 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 global economy are opposed by the United States and its allies, who do not want to lose political influence on other IMF countries through the "conditionality" of loans - presenting debtor states with mandatory political - economic requirements.

Nevertheless, one should not think that the financial problems of countries are solved only with the help of IMF money. For example, a recent loan to Greece of more than 300 billion euros was financed by the IMF by less than 10% and, in euro terms, amounted to only about 20 billion euros. 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, officially around 90.5 million ounces and valued at SDR 3.2 billion. The organization accepts gold from the participating countries mainly as payment for interest on loans, after which it has the right to send it to finance new loan tranches;

loans from “financially secure” member states;

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

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 struck by the luxury of the halls and said to a colleague: "Are these people asking us for money?" For 6 years (from August 1992 to the beginning of August 1998), Russia borrowed more than $ 32 billion from the fund in total - however, loans did not help us achieve either the projected reduction in inflation or prevent the August default of 1998. Russia returned 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 1990s and the lender's claims on Russia:




Financial aid or credit needle?

Many experts argue that the recommendations of the creditor fund to IMF borrowing countries de facto radically contradict the principles and goals declared by the Charter. Instead of developing the productive potential of the borrowing countries, they get hooked on the credit needle, while the 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 borrowing state of the right to free issue of the national currency;

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

rejection of protectionist measures to protect domestic producers, support for small and medium businesses;

freedom of movement of capital, allowing their outflow abroad;

cuts in spending on social programs, the elimination of benefits for vulnerable segments of the population, the reduction of salaries in the public sector and pensions.

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

Countries hardest hit by IMF dependency:

Rwanda, where the rejection of state support for farming and the devaluation of the national currency led to a drop in incomes 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 replenished with Ukraine, which is being forced by the creditor fund to raise gas prices. Its rise in price not only hits the pockets of citizens, but also finally nullifies the competitiveness of Ukrainian producers, which has already been undermined by the unfavorable Association Agreement with the EU. Ukraine, together with Romania and Hungary, is the largest current debtor of the International Monetary Fund.

But since history has no subjunctive mood, it is impossible to assess what consequences in different countries would result in a situation of lack of funding from the IMF. So the position of the fund's defenders is something like this - maybe it didn't work out very well somewhere, but without a loan it would be even worse. And the critics of the fund attack 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 prevent corruption, but in many ways look like strengthening political influence 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 "at the snap of a finger." What is currently more from the IMF - benefit or harm - everyone decides for himself.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is an intergovernmental monetary and credit organization with the status of a UN specialized agency. The objective of the fund is to promote international monetary cooperation and trade, coordinate the monetary and financial policies of the member countries, provide them with loans to regulate the balance of payments and maintain exchange rates.

The decision to create the IMF was taken by 44 states at a conference on monetary and financial issues held in Bretton Woods (USA) from July 1 to July 22, 1944. On December 27, 1945, 29 states signed the fund's charter. The authorized capital amounted to 7.6 billion dollars. The first financial operations of the IMF began on March 1, 1947.

184 states are members of the IMF.

The IMF has the authority to create and make available to its members international financial reserves in the form of "special drawing rights" (SDRs). SDR - a system for providing mutual loans in conditional monetary units - SDRs, equated in terms of gold content to the US dollar.

The Fund's financial resources come primarily from subscriptions ("quotas") from IMF member countries, which currently total about $293 billion. Quotas are determined on the basis of the relative size of the member states' economies.

The main financial role of the IMF is to provide short-term loans. Unlike the World Bank, which provides loans to poor countries, the IMF lends only to its member countries. The Fund's loans are provided through the usual channels to member countries in the form of tranches, or shares, equal to 25% of the quota of the respective member state.

Russia signed an agreement on joining the IMF as an associate member on October 5, 1991, and on June 1, 1992 officially became the 165th member of the IMF by signing the Fund's Charter.

On January 31, 2005, Russia fully repaid its debt to the International Monetary Fund by making a payment of 2.19 billion Special Drawing Rights (SDRs), equivalent to $3.33 billion. Thus, Russia saved $204 million, which it had to pay in case of repayment of the debt to the IMF according to the schedule until 2008.

The supreme governing body of the IMF is the Board of Governors, in which all member countries are represented. The Council holds its meetings annually.

The day-to-day operations are managed by an Executive Board of 24 Executive Directors. The five largest shareholders of the IMF (US, UK, Germany, France and Japan), as well as Russia, China and Saudi Arabia, have their own seats on the Board. The remaining 16 Executive Directors are elected for two-year terms by country groups.

The Executive Board elects a Managing Director. The Managing Director is the Chairman of the Board and the head of staff of the IMF. He is appointed for a five-year term with the possibility of re-election.

According to the agreement existing between the US and the EU countries, the IMF is traditionally headed by Western European economists, while the US chairs the World Bank. Since 2007, the procedure for nominating candidates has changed - any of the 24 members of the board of directors has the opportunity to nominate a candidate for the post of managing director, and he can be from any member country of the fund.

The first Managing Director of the IMF was Camille Gutt, a Belgian economist and politician, former Minister of Finance, who headed the Fund from May 1946 to May 1951.