International Monetary Fund. Dossier
International Monetary Fund (IMF) is an intergovernmental organization designed to regulate monetary relations between states and provide financial assistance member countries to eliminate foreign exchange difficulties caused by balance of payments imbalances. The IMF was established at the International Monetary and Financial Conference (July 1-22, 1944) in Bretton Woods (USA, New Hampshire). Practical activities The fund started on March 1, 1947.
The USSR also took part in the Bretton Woods Conference. However, subsequently, due to the Cold War between East and West, he did not ratify the Agreement on the Formation of the IMF. For the same reason, throughout the 50-60s. Poland, Czechoslovakia and Cuba left the IMF. As a result of deep socio-economic and political reforms in the early 90s former socialist countries, as well as states that were previously part of the USSR, joined the IMF (with the exception of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and Cuba).
Currently, 182 countries are members of the IMF (see Fig. 4). Any country that conducts independent foreign policy and ready to accept the rights and obligations provided for by the IMF Charter.
The official objectives of the IMF are to:
- promote balanced growth of international trade;
- maintain the stability of currency exchange rates;
- promote the creation of a multilateral settlement system for current transactions between members of the Fund and the elimination of currency restrictions that impede the growth of international trade;
- provide member countries with credit resources that allow them to regulate the imbalance of temporary payments without the use of restrictive measures in the field foreign trade and calculations;
- serve as a forum for consultation and cooperation on international monetary issues.
Responsible for the smooth operation of the global currency and payment system, the Fund devotes Special attention the state of liquidity on a global scale, i.e. the level and composition of reserves available to member states and intended to cover trade and payment needs. One of the important functions of the Fund is also to provide additional liquidity to its members through the distribution of Special Drawing Rights (SDRs). SDR (or SDR) is an international monetary unit of account used as a conventional scale for measuring international requirements and obligations, establishing currency parity and exchange rate, as an international means of payment and reserve. The SDR value is determined based on average cost five major currencies of the world (before January 1, 1981 - sixteen currencies). Definition specific gravity each currency is made taking into account the country's share in international trade, but for the US dollar its share in international payments is taken into account. On currently 21.4 billion SDRs were issued with a total value of about 29 billion US dollars, which is about 2% of all reserves.
The Fund has significant total resources to finance temporary disequilibria in the balance of payments of its members. To use them, a member must provide the Fund with a compelling justification for the need, which may be related to the balance of payments, reserve position, or changes in reserves. The IMF provides its resources on the basis of equality and non-discrimination, taking into account the social and domestic political objectives of member countries. The Fund's policies enable them to use IMF financing at an early stage when balance of payments problems arise.
At the same time, the Fund’s assistance helps to overcome the imbalance of payments without the use of trade and payment restrictions. The Fund plays a catalytic role, as changes in the policies pursued by states in implementing IMF-supported programs help attract additional financial assistance from other sources. Finally, the Fund acts as a financial intermediary, ensuring the redistribution of funds from those countries where there is a surplus to countries where there is a deficit.
IMF governance structure
1. The highest governing body is the Board of Governors, in which each member country is represented by a governor and his deputy. In most cases, the Fund's managers are ministers of finance, or heads of central banks, or other persons of similar position. The Board of Governors elects a chairman from among its members. The competence of the council includes resolving the most important, fundamental issues of the IMF's activities, such as the admission and exclusion of members of the Fund, the determination and revision of quotas, the distribution of net income, and the selection of executive directors. The Governors meet once a year to discuss the Fund's activities, but they may vote at any time by mail.
The IMF is structured as joint stock company, and therefore the ability of each participant to influence its activities is determined by its share in the capital. In accordance with this, the IMF operates the principle of the so-called “weighted” number of votes: each member country has 250 “basic” votes (regardless of the size of the contribution to the Fund’s capital) and an additional one vote for every 100 thousand SDR units of its share in this capital. In addition, when voting on certain issues, creditor countries receive an additional one vote for every 400 thousand US dollars of loans provided by them on voting day, due to a corresponding reduction in the number of votes of debtor countries. This arrangement leaves the final say in the management of the IMF's affairs to the countries that have invested the most in it.
Decisions in the IMF Board of Governors are generally taken by a simple majority (at least half) of votes, and the most important issues(for example, amendments to the Charter, establishment and revision of the size of the shares of member countries in capital, a number of issues of the functioning of the SDR mechanism, exchange rate policy, etc.) by a “special (qualified) majority”, which currently provides for two categories : 70% and 85% of the total votes of member countries.
The current IMF Charter provides that the Board of Governors may decide to establish a new permanent governing body - a Council at the ministerial level of member countries to oversee the regulation and adaptation of the world economy. monetary system. But it has not yet been created, and its role is played by the 22-member Interim Committee of the Board of Governors on the World Monetary System, established in 1974. However, unlike the proposed Council, the Interim Committee does not have the power to make policy decisions.
2. The Board of Governors delegates many of its powers to the Executive Board, i.e. The Directorate, which is responsible for the conduct of the affairs of the Foundation and operates from its headquarters in Washington.
3. The IMF Executive Board appoints a managing director, who heads the administrative apparatus of the Fund and is in charge of day-to-day affairs. By tradition, the managing director must be European or (according to at least) non-American. Since 2000, the Managing Director of the IMF is Horst Keller (Germany).
4. The IMF Committee on Balance of Payments Statistics, which includes representatives of industrialized and developing countries. It develops recommendations for the wider use of statistics in the compilation of balances of payments, coordinates the implementation of a basic statistical survey of portfolio investment and carries out studies on the recording of flows associated with financial means of a derivational nature.
Capital. The IMF's capital is made up of subscription contributions from member countries. Each country has a quota expressed in SDR. A member country's quota is the most important element its financial and organizational relations with the Foundation. First, the quota determines the number of votes in the Fund. Secondly, the size of the quota is based on the extent of access of an IMF member to the financial resources of the organization in accordance with established limits. Third, the quota determines the IMF member's share in the allocation of SDRs. The Charter does not provide methods for determining quotas for IMF members. At the same time, from the very beginning, the size of quotas was associated, although not on a rigid basis, with such economic factors as national income and the volume of foreign trade and payments. The Ninth General Review of Quotas used a set of five formulas agreed upon during the Eighth General Review to produce “estimated quotas,” which provide a broad measure of the relative position of IMF members in the global economy. These formulas use economic data on a state's gross domestic product (GDP), current transactions, fluctuations in current receipts, and government reserves.
The USA, being the country with the highest economic indicators, made the largest contribution to the IMF, amounting to about 18% of the total amount of quotas (about 35 billion US dollars); Palau, which joined the IMF in December 1997, has the smallest quota and has contributed about US$3.8 million.
Until 1978, 25% of the quota was paid in gold, currently - in reserve assets (SDRs or freely usable currencies); 75% of the subscription amount is in national currency, usually provided to the Fund in the form of promissory notes.
The IMF Charter provides that in addition to its own capital, which is the main source of financing its activities, the Fund also has the ability to use borrowed funds in any currency and from any source, i.e. borrow them both from official bodies and on the private market loan capital. To date, the IMF has received loans from the treasuries and central banks of member countries, as well as from Switzerland, which was not a member until May 1992, and from the Bank for International Settlements (BIS). As for the private money market, he has not yet resorted to its services.
IMF lending activities. The IMF's financial transactions are carried out only with official bodies of member countries - treasuries, central banks, and currency stabilization funds. The Fund's funds can be made available to its members through a range of approaches and mechanisms, differing mainly in the types of problems of financing the balance of payments deficit, as well as the level of conditions put forward by the IMF. Moreover, these conditions are a composite criterion, including three separate element: the state of the balance of payments, the balance of international reserves and the dynamics of the reserve position of countries. These three elements that determine the need for balance of payments financing are considered independent and each of them can form the basis for submitting a request for financing to the Fund.
A country in need of foreign currency purchases freely usable currency, or SDRs, in exchange for an equivalent amount of its domestic currency, which is deposited into an IMF account at the country's central bank.
The IMF charges borrowing countries a one-time commission fee of 0.5% of the transaction amount and a certain fee, or interest rate, for the loans it provides, which is based on market rates.
After the expiration of the established period, the member country is obliged to carry out the reverse operation - to buy back its national currency from the Fund, returning to it the borrowed funds. Typically, this operation, which in practice means the repayment of a previously received loan, must be carried out within a period of 3 1/4 to 5 years from the date of purchase of the currency. In addition, the borrowing country must repurchase its excess currency for the Fund ahead of schedule as its balance of payments improves and foreign exchange reserves increase. Loans are also considered repaid if the national currency of the debtor country held by the IMF is purchased by another member state.
Member countries' access to IMF credit resources is limited by certain nuances. According to the original Charter, they were as follows: firstly, the amount of currency received by a member country in the twelve months preceding its new application to the Fund, including the amount requested, should not exceed 25% of the country's quota; secondly, the total amount of a given country’s currency in the IMF’s assets could not exceed 200% of its quota (including 75% of the quota contributed to the Fund by subscription). The revised Charter in 1978 removed the first limitation. This allowed member countries to utilize their ability to obtain currency from the IMF for more than short term than the five years it took before. As for the second condition, in exceptional circumstances its operation may be suspended.
Technical assistance. The International Monetary Fund also provides technical assistance to member countries. It is carried out through sending missions to central banks, ministries of finance and statistical bodies of countries that have requested such assistance, sending experts to these bodies for 2-3 years, and conducting an examination of draft legislative documents. Technical assistance is expressed in the IMF's assistance to member countries in the field of monetary, exchange rate policy and banking supervision, statistics, development of financial and economic legislation and personnel training.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) was established simultaneously with the World Bank at a conference of economists from central banks and other government officials of the major trading powers at Bretton Woods (USA) in July 1944. The governments of 29 countries signed the IMF Agreement on December 27, 1945. The foundation began its activities on March 1, 1947. Has the status of a UN specialized agency.
The organization was created to restore international trade and create a stable global monetary system. The first country to receive IMF assistance on May 8, 1947 was France - it was allocated $25 million for stabilization financial system, suffered during the German occupation.
Currently, the main tasks of the fund are coordinating the monetary and financial policies of member countries, providing them with short-term loans to settle balances of payments and maintain exchange rates.
IMF played important role in maintaining the functioning of the Bretton Woods agreements, which consisted of a fixed price for gold and fixed exchange rates to the dollar (freely exchangeable for gold). In the first decades, the IMF most often issued loans to European countries to maintain a trade balance with the United States: Great Britain, France, Germany and other countries had to buy the dollar at a greatly inflated price due to its peg to gold (backing the dollar with gold for 25 years after the end of World War II war decreased from 55 to 22%). In particular, in 1966, the UK received $4.3 billion to prevent the devaluation of the pound sterling, but on November 18, 1967, the British currency still depreciated by 14.3%, from $2.8 to $2.4 per pound.
In 1971, the United States, due to growing military costs, abolished the free exchange of dollars for gold for foreign governments: the Bretton Woods system ceased to exist. She was replaced by new principle, based on free trading of currencies (Jamaican Monetary System). After that Western Europe there was no longer any need to buy the dollar, which was overvalued relative to gold, and resort to the help of the IMF to correct the trade balance. In this situation, the IMF switched to issuing loans to developing countries. The reasons were the crises of oil importers after the crises of 1973 and 1979, subsequent crises of the world economy and the transition to a market economy of the former socialist countries.
Beginning in the 1970s, the IMF began to actively put forward demands on borrowing countries to carry out structural economic reforms (the very possibility of making demands was introduced back in 1952). Among the typical conditions for the allocation of loans was a reduction in government funding Agriculture and industry, removal of barriers to imports, privatization of enterprises. IMF experts stated that these reforms will help states build an effective market economy, however, the UN Conference on Trade and Development, as well as many experts, pointed out that the fund’s actions only worsened the situation of states, in particular, leading to a significant decrease in food production and hunger. For a long time Argentina was considered a model for the effective implementation of IMF recommendations, which began borrowing money from the fund in 1985, but in 2001 economic policy state led to default and a protracted crisis.
main sources financial resources IMF - quotas of member states of the organization. For domestic purposes, the IMF has issued a global reserve unit of payment since 1967, known as special rights borrowing (special drawing rights, SDR). It has a non-cash form, is used to regulate the balance of payments and can be exchanged for currency within the organization. The main source of financing for the IMF is the quotas of member countries, which are transferred upon joining the organization and can subsequently be increased. The total resource of quotas is 238 billion SDR, or about $368 billion, of which Russia’s share is 5.95 billion SDR (about $9.2 billion), or 2.5% of the total volume of quotas. The largest share belongs to the United States - 42.12 billion SDR (about $65.2 billion), or 17.69% of the total quotas.
In 2010, G20 leaders agreed in Seoul to revise quotas in favor of developing countries. As a result of the 14th revision of quotas, their overall size will be doubled, from 238.4 billion SDR to 476.8 billion SDR, in addition, more than 6% of quotas will be redistributed from developed countries to developing ones. So far, this revision of quotas has not been ratified by the United States.
The highest body of the IMF is the Board of Governors, which consists of two people (the governor and his deputy) from each member country of the organization. Typically these positions are held by finance ministers or central bankers. Traditionally, the Board of Governors meets once a year. Currently, the representative of the Russian Federation on the council is the head of the Russian Ministry of Finance, Anton Siluanov.
Administrative functions and day-to-day management are entrusted to the Managing Director (since 2011, this post has been held by Christine Lagarde) and the Board of Executive Directors, which consists of 24 people (eight directors are appointed from the USA, Germany, Japan, Great Britain, France, China, Saudi Arabia and RF, the rest represent groups of states (for example, Northern Europe, north and south South America etc.). Each director has a certain number of votes depending on the size of the country's economy and its quota in the IMF. The Council is re-elected every 2 years. The Russian Federation has 2.39% of total number votes, the USA has the most votes - 16.75%.
As of August 2014, the largest IMF borrowers are Greece (received loans worth about $4.5 billion), Ukraine (about $3 billion) and Portugal (about $2.3 billion). In addition, loans to maintain stability national economy have been approved for Mexico, Poland, Colombia and Morocco. At the same time, Ireland has the largest debt to the IMF, about $30 billion.
Russia in last time received money from the IMF in 1999. In total, from 1992 to 1999, the IMF allocated $26.992 billion to Russia. The full repayment of Russia's debt to the IMF was announced on February 1, 2005.
The number of IMF employees is about 2.6 thousand in 142 countries.
The organization's headquarters are located in Washington, DC.
IMF was conceived in early July 1944 at an international conference held in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire, United States, at which participants from 44 countries agreed on the fundamentals of financial collaboration, designed to prevent a repetition of the disastrous financial policies that became one of the circumstances of the Famous Depression of the 1930s. Any member of the organization characterized the gold content of its own currency and, on this basis, noted the exchange rate in the currencies of other participating countries. Exchange rate shocks were allowed around 10%. Initially, the IMF provided mainly short-term loans to settle the balance of payments of participating countries.
On July 22, 1944, the basis of the agreement (IMF Charter) was developed. More significant contributors to the study of the IMF concept were John Maynard Keynes, who headed the English delegation, and Harry Dexter White - high-ranking employee United States Department of the Treasury. The final version of the agreement was signed by the first 29 countries on December 27, 1945 - the official date of the creation of the IMF. The IMF began its own activities on March 1, 1947, as part of the Bretton Woods system. In the same year, France took out its first loan from the IMF.
The IMF now functions as an observer of global currencies, helping to maintain an orderly system of payments among all countries, and reducing cash flows to member countries with large balance-of-payments deficits. If the World Bank finances as a policy reform, then the International Monetary Fund deals only with reforms. It provides loans to member states that have short-term problems with international creditors, and strives to achieve absolute convertibility (independent transfer of one currency into another) of member states' currencies through a system of flexible exchange rates, operating since 1973. The IMF's proposals and resources can be used by all member states of this organization (both rich and poor).
Objectives of the IMF:
Assistance to international cooperation in the monetary sphere;
Help to expand the balanced growth of international trade and, in accordance with this, increase employment and improve the financial characteristics of member countries;
Determination of parities and exchange rates; prevent the ability to provide competitive currencies;
Ensuring the functioning of the international monetary systems by the method of coordination and coordination monetary policy and strengthening the exchange rates and convertibility of the currencies of member countries; ensuring orderly relationships in the monetary field between member countries;
Offer assistance in creating a multilateral system of payments for current transactions between member countries and in eliminating monetary restrictions;
Offering support to member countries by providing loans and credits in foreign currency to settle balances of payments and stabilize monetary rates;
Providing advice on economic and monetary issues;
Reducing the duration and reducing the level of imbalance in the international balances of payments of member countries;
Monitoring compliance by member countries with the code of conduct in international monetary relations.
IMF definition
International Monetary Fund, IMF- an international organization created to regulate monetary and credit relations between member states and offer them monetary support in case of financial difficulties caused by a lack of balance of payments, by providing short- and medium-term loans in foreign currency. The Foundation has the status of a special UN agency. In fact, it works as the institutional basis of the world monetary system.
The headquarters of the IMF is in Washington, DC. The IMF also has its own consulates in more than 80 countries around the world, which demonstrates its large-scale nature and close relationships with member countries. The Fund's economic year runs from May 1 to April 30.
The IMF has a unit of account - the Special Drawing Right (SDR). The SDR rate to the United States dollar on March 2, 2013 was 1.5149 United States dollars. The conversion of these IMF funds into American dollars is approximate and is provided for convenience.
A low exchange rate was observed at the beginning of January 2002, 1.24 United States dollars per 1 SDR, and limit value at the beginning of March 2008 1.64, was actually associated with the financial and economic decline, which manifested itself in the form of a powerful shift for the worse in all key financial indicators in many developed countries, and what happened further at the end of the same year was a large-scale one.
The International Monetary Fund, the IMF is, first of all, specialized institution United Nations (UN), headquartered in Washington, USA. It is worth noting that although the IMF was created with the support of the UN, it is an independent organization.
The International Monetary Fund was created relatively recently - at the Bretton Woods Conference, on monetary and financial issues on July 22, 1944, the basis of the agreement was developed ( IMF Charter).
The most significant contributions to the development of the IMF concept were made by John Maynard Keynes, who headed the British delegation, and Harry Dexter White, a senior official at the US Treasury Department. The final version of the agreement was signed by the first 29 states on December 27, 1945 - the official date of the creation of the IMF. The IMF began operations on March 1, 1947, as part of the Bretton Woods system. In the same year, France took out its first loan. Currently, the IMF unites 187 countries, and its structures employ 2,500 people from 133 countries.
The IMF provides short- and medium-term loans when there is a deficit in the state's balance of payments. The provision of loans is usually accompanied by a set of conditions and recommendations aimed at improving the situation.
The IMF's policies and recommendations regarding developing countries have been repeatedly criticized, the essence of which is that the implementation of recommendations and conditions are ultimately not aimed at increasing the independence, stability and development of the national economy of the state, but only tying it to international financial flows.
international monetary fund lending
Main goals and functions of the IMF and structure of governing bodies
The main objectives of the International Monetary Fund are:
1. “the need to promote international cooperation in the monetary and financial sphere”;
2. “promoting the expansion and balanced growth of international trade” in the interests of developing productive resources, achieving high levels of employment and real incomes of member states;
3. “ensuring the stability of currencies, maintaining orderly monetary relations among member states” and striving to prevent “currency depreciation in order to gain competitive advantages”;
4. providing assistance in creating a multilateral settlement system between member states, as well as in eliminating currency restrictions;
5. temporary provision of foreign currency funds to Member States to enable them to “correct imbalances in their balance of payments.”
The main functions of the IMF are:
1. promoting international cooperation in monetary policy
2. expansion of world trade
3. lending
4. stabilization of monetary exchange rates
5. consulting debtor countries
6. development of standards for international financial statistics
7. collection and publication of international financial statistics
The highest governing body of the IMF is the Board of Governors, in which each member country is represented by a governor and his deputy. These are usually finance ministers or central bankers. The Council is responsible for resolving key issues of the Fund’s activities: amending the Articles of Agreement, admitting and expelling member countries, determining and revising their shares in the capital, and electing executive directors. Governors usually meet in session once a year, but may hold meetings and vote by mail at any time.
The authorized capital is about 217 billion SDR (special unit for the right to borrow) (as of January 2011, 1 SDR was equal to approximately 1.5 US dollars). It is formed by contributions from member states, each of which usually pays approximately 25% of its quota in SDRs or in the currencies of other members, and the remaining 75% in its own national currency. Based on the size of quotas, votes are distributed among member countries in governing bodies IMF.
The largest number of votes in the IMF (as of June 16, 2010) are: USA - 17.8%; Germany - 5.99%; Japan - 6.13%; Great Britain - 4.95%; France - 4.95%; Saudi Arabia- 3.22%; Italy - 4.18%; Russia - 2.74%. The share of 15 EU member countries is 30.3%, 29 member countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development have a combined 60.35% of votes in the IMF. The share of other countries, making up over 84% of the Fund's membership, accounts for only 39.75%.
The IMF operates on the principle of a “weighted” number of votes: the ability of member countries to influence the Fund’s activities through voting is determined by their share in its capital. Each state has 250 “basic” votes, regardless of the size of its contribution to the capital, and an additional one vote for every 100 thousand SDR of the amount of this contribution. If a country bought (sold) SDRs received during the initial issue of SDRs, the number of its votes increases (decreases) by 1 for every 400 thousand purchased (sold) SDRs. This adjustment is made by no more than 1/4 of the number of votes received for the country's contribution to the capital of the Fund. This arrangement ensures a decisive majority of votes for the leading states.
Decisions in the Board of Governors are usually made by a simple majority (at least half) of the votes, and on important issues of an operational or strategic nature - by a “special majority” (70 or 85% of the votes of member countries, respectively).
Despite a slight reduction in the share of voting power of the US and EU, they can still veto key decisions of the Fund, the adoption of which requires a maximum majority (85%). This means that the United States, together with leading Western countries, has the opportunity to exercise control over the decision-making process in the IMF and direct its activities based on their interests. With coordinated action, developing countries are also able to prevent decisions that do not suit them. However, achieving consistency across a large number of disparate countries is difficult, so the intention was to “enhance the ability of developing countries and countries with economies in transition to participate more effectively in the decision-making machinery of the IMF.”
The International Monetary and Financial Committee plays a significant role in the organizational structure of the IMF. It consists of 24 IMF governors, including from Russia, and meets twice a year. This committee is an advisory body of the Board of Governors and has no power to make policy decisions. However, it performs important functions:
ь directs the activities of the Executive Council;
b develops strategic decisions related to the functioning of the global monetary system and the activities of the IMF;
b submits to the Board of Governors proposals for amendments to the Articles of Agreement of the IMF.
A similar role is also played by the Development Committee - the Joint Ministerial Committee of the Boards of Governors of the World Bank and the Fund.
The Board of Governors delegates many of its powers to the Executive Board, a directorate that is responsible for conducting the affairs of the IMF, which includes a wide range of political, operational and administrative issues, such as providing loans to member countries and overseeing their policies. exchange rate.
The IMF Executive Board elects a Managing Director for a five-year term, who heads the Fund's staff (as of March 2009 - about 2,478 people from 143 countries). He must be a representative of one of the European countries. Managing Director (since November 2007) - Dominique Strauss-Kann (France), his first deputy - John Lipsky (USA).
The head of the IMF permanent mission in Russia is Neven Mathes.
Manager. Elected by the Executive Board, the IMF Governor chairs the Executive Board and is the organization's chief of staff. Under the direction of the Executive Board, the Governor is responsible for the day-to-day operations of the IMF. The manager is appointed for five years and may be re-elected for a subsequent term.
Staff. The Articles of Agreement require personnel appointed to the IMF to demonstrate the highest standards of professionalism and technical competence, and reflect the internationality of the organization. Approximately 125 nations are represented among the organization's 2,300 employees.
International Monetary Fund
It is proposed to rename this page to International Monetary Fund.
Explanation of reasons and discussion - on the page Wikipedia:Towards renaming/July 24, 2012. Do not remove the flag for renaming until the end of the discussion. |
International Monetary Fund (IMF) | |
International Monetary Fund (IMF) | |
Russian version of the logo |
|
IMF member states |
|
Membership: |
188 states |
---|---|
Headquarters: | |
Organization type: | |
Managers | |
Managing Director | |
Base | |
Creation of the IMF charter | |
Official date of creation of the IMF | |
Start of activity | |
www.imf.org |
International Monetary Fund, IMF(English) International Monetary Fund, IMF listen)) is a specialized agency of the United Nations, headquartered in Washington, USA.
Basic 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 “golden” 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 a member country's national currency to provide credit to other countries, that country's reserve share increases accordingly. The outstanding amount of loans provided by a member country to the Fund under the loan agreements of the NHS and NHS constitutes its credit position. The reserve share and the 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 (if fully used, the IMF's holdings in the country's currency reach 100% of the quota) are divided into four credit shares, or tranches (Credit Tranches), each constituting 25% of the quota . Member countries' access to IMF credit resources within the framework of credit shares is limited: the amount of a country's currency in the IMF's assets cannot exceed 200% of its quota (including 75% of the quota contributed by subscription). Thus, the maximum amount of credit that a country can receive from the Fund as a result of using reserve and credit 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 are in many cases used in amounts exceeding the limit fixed in the charter. Therefore, the concept of “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 credit share.
3. Stand-by loan arrangements Stand-by Arrangements) (since 1952) provide the member country with a guarantee that, up to a certain amount and for the duration of the agreement, subject to compliance with specified conditions, the country can freely receive foreign currency from the IMF in exchange for national currency. This practice of providing loans is the opening of a line of credit. While the use of the first credit share can be carried out in the form of an outright purchase of foreign currency after the Fund approves its request, the allocation of funds for the account of the upper credit shares is usually carried out through arrangements with member countries for reserve credits. From the 50s to the mid-70s, agreements on stand-by loans 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 mechanism(English) Extended Fund Facility) (since 1974) supplemented the reserve and credit shares. It is designed to provide loans for longer periods and in large sizes in relation to quotas than within the framework of regular credit 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 specified intervals - once every six months, quarterly or (in some cases) monthly. The main purpose of stand-by loans 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 severity increases as they move from one loan share to another. Certain conditions must be met before receiving a loan. The obligations of the borrowing country, providing for its implementation of relevant financial and economic activities, are recorded in the “Letter of intent” (Letter of intent) or Memorandum of economic and financial policy (Memorandum of Economic and Financial Policies) sent to the IMF. The progress in fulfilling obligations by the country receiving the loan is monitored by periodically assessing the special performance criteria provided for in the agreement. These criteria can be either quantitative, relating to certain macroeconomic indicators, or structural, reflecting institutional changes. If the IMF considers that a country is using a loan in conflict with the goals of the Fund and is not fulfilling its obligations, it may limit its lending and refuse to provide the next tranche. Thus, this mechanism allows the IMF to exert economic pressure on borrowing countries.
The IMF provides loans with a number of requirements - freedom of movement of capital, privatization (including natural monopolies - railway transport and public utilities), minimizing or even eliminating government spending on social programs- for education, healthcare, cheaper housing, public transport, etc.; refusal of protection environment; wage cuts, restrictions on workers' rights; increasing tax pressure on the poor, etc.
According to Michel Chosudovsky,
IMF-sponsored programs have since consistently continued to destroy the industrial sector and gradually dismantle the Yugoslav state. general welfare" The restructuring agreements increased the external debt and provided a mandate for the devaluation of the Yugoslav currency, which greatly affected the living standards of the Yugoslavs. This initial round of restructuring laid the foundations. Throughout the 1980s, the IMF periodically prescribed further doses of its bitter "economic therapy" as the Yugoslav economy slowly slipped into a coma. Industrial production reached a 10 percent drop by 1990 - with all the predictable social consequences.
Most of the loans issued by the IMF to Yugoslavia in the 80s went to service this debt and solve problems caused by the implementation of IMF prescriptions. The Foundation forced Yugoslavia to stop the economic equalization of the regions, which led to the growth of separatism and further civil war, which claimed the lives of 600 thousand people.
In the 1980s, the Mexican economy collapsed due to a sharp drop in oil prices. The IMF began to act: loans were issued in exchange for large-scale privatization, reduction government spending etc. Up to 57% of government spending was spent on paying off external debt. As a result, about $45 billion left the country. Unemployment reached 40% of the economically active population. The country was forced to join NAFTA and provide enormous benefits American corporations. Mexican workers' incomes immediately fell.
As a result of reforms, Mexico - the country where corn was first domesticated - began to import it. The support system for Mexican farmers was completely destroyed. After the country joined NAFTA in 1994, liberalization moved even faster, and protective tariffs began to be eliminated. The United States did not deprive its farmers of support and actively supplied corn to Mexico.
The proposal to take out and then pay off external debt in foreign currency leads to an orientation of the economy exclusively towards exports, regardless of any measures food security(as was the case in many African countries, the Philippines, etc.).
see also
- IMF member states
Notes
Literature
- Cornelius Luke Trading in the Global Currency Markets = Trading in the Global Currency Markets. - M.: Alpina Publisher, 2005. - 716 p. - ISBN 5-9614-0206-1
Links
- The structure of the IMF's governing bodies and the voices of member countries (see table on page 15)
- Chinese should become IMF President People's Daily 05/19/2011
- Egorov A.V. “International financial infrastructure”, M.: Linor, 2009. ISBN 978-5-900889-28-3
- Alexander Tarasov “Argentina is another victim of the IMF”
- Could the IMF be dissolved? Yuri Sigov. "Business Week", 2007
- IMF loan: pleasure for the rich and violence for the poor. Andrey Ganzha. "Telegraph", 2008 - link copy of article does not work
- International Monetary Fund (IMF) “First Moscow Currency Advisors”, 2009
United Nations (UN) | |
---|---|
Main organs | |
Membership | |
Specialized institutions |
|
Auxiliary organs | |
Advisory bodies | |
Programs and funds | |
Educational and scientific research institutes |
MUNIWAH UNIDIR UNICRI UNITAR UNRISD |
Other organizations | |
Other trust funds |
UNFIP UNDEF |
Related bodies | |
Branches |
UNOV YUNOG UNON |
Departments, management | |
see also |
Trade | |
---|---|
Definitions | Balance of payments · Current account (balance by country) · Trade balance (balance by country) · Capital account · Gold and foreign exchange reserves · Comparative advantage · Absolute advantage · International division of labor · Import substitution · International trade (countries by export · countries by import ) Economic integration |
Organizations and politics in the field of trade |
World Trade organisation · International Monetary Fund· World Bank · International Trade Center · Trade bloc · Free Trade Area · Customs Union · Trade Barriers · Import Quota · Tariff |
Economic schools | Free trade · Net balance · Salamanca · Mercantilism · Protectionism |
Related Topics | Sales · Globalization · Outsourcing · Trade Justice and Fair Trade |