IMF Flashcards
(10 cards)
Establishment
- 1945
- Washington
- legacy of the Bretton Woods system
- agency of the UN
- 189 members
IMF roles
- survailence
- capacity development
- lending
- policy
Surveilence as an IMF role
- monitors the system of exchange rates and international payments
- this allows countries to do business with each other
Capacity development as an IMF role
- gives policy advice to members on financial matters
Lending as an IMF role
- primarily to the developing world
- IMF loans have helped post communist states liberalise their markets and economically develop
how does policy setting work
- 85 percent majority to pass
- vote share based on economy size eg USA has 16.5 percent of the vote share
strengths
- effective in the 50s and 60s as there was huge economic stability and economic growth of countries was 4-5 percent a year
- bailed counters out in the 2008 crisis
- monitoring helps prevent global financial crisis
weaknesses
- dominated by the USA, headquarters in Washington
- the USA essentially has veto power
- failed to predict 2008
Loan example
- 2010 Eurozone crisis
- gave Ireland a €22.5 billion loan
debt relief example
- debt relief/suspension has helped countries like Ghana and Ethiopia manage debt