IMF—International Monetary FundThe IMF, an international organisation with 184 member countries, was established in 1944 to promote international monetary cooperation, exchange rate stability, and orderly exchange arrangements; and to provide temporary financial assistance to countries to help ease balance of payments adjustment. Based in Washington D.C. the managing director (traditionally a European national) is Dominique Strauss Kahn; the Fund currently has 2,693 staff from 141 countries; and 75 countries owe the Fund around $34 billion. Its operations include surveillance (of member countries economies and the global economy), technical assistance and financial support. The latter is provided in the form of loans to which conditions are attached. read more background... Items 1 to 10 of 911The IMF's policy advisory role to the G20The G20 has turned to the IMF to operate as a research and advisory body on their behalf since those governments’ leaders first met in November 2008. The IMF’s work in this area has mainly fallen in three areas: technical advice, surveillance, and research. read article... IMF grants Antigua loan amid controversyThe IMF has faced increased political pressure to refuse a $118 million loan to Antigua and Barbuda following the government’s seizure of assets belonging to Allen Stanford, former head of the now fallen Stanford Investment Bank (SIB). read article... Pakistan running from the IFIsThe Pakistani government is facing increased pressure from the IMF to meet the requirements of its financial stabilisation programme, agreed in 2008, including the full implementation of a value added tax (VAT) and specific foreign borrowing targets. read article... The Greek crisis and the involvement of the IMFThe “Greek expression” of the crisis has revealed an amazingly broad range of issues not only concerning the structural problems of the Greek economy, but also those of the European Union (EU) as an economic and currency area, and its unwillingness or inability to react to the problem in a timely, meaningful and collective way. read article... Debt crisis in Europe: Beware IMF bearing giftsThe descent of Greece into a sovereign debt crisis marks the first time a country that uses the euro has gone to the IMF. The fear of adverse market reaction has now moved Europe towards greater coordination and the G20 to argue against continued fiscal stimulus. read article... IMF's latest prescription: Cure the crisis with austerityThe IMF has gone back to promoting fiscal austerity and pressuring governments to implement spending cuts and structural reforms. Austerity also remains at the heart of the Fund's debt sustainability policies. read article... IMF bank tax proposals cause controversyA leaked copy of the IMF's report to the G20 on A fair and substantial contribution by the financial sector which proposes two new financial sector taxes to cover some of the costs of the financial and economic crisis, has been criticised by campaigners for inadequate analysis of the potential of the financial transactions tax (FTT), dubbed the Robin Hood tax. read article... IFI governance reform freezing over?An in-depth analysis of the latest round of World Bank reforms shows they delivered significantly less than proclaimed, while IMF governance reforms, slated to conclude in January 2011, are proceeding slowly and promising only minor changes. read article... Zimbabwe turns to the IMFIn March the Zimbabwean cabinet agreed to a new debt relief strategy that includes recourse to the IMF and World Bank's Highly Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative. read article... The IMF's framework for low-income countriesIn the midst of the global financial and economic crisis the IMF amended its lending framework for low-income countries (LICs). It now has three main instruments for LICs – the Extended Credit Facility, the Standby Credit Facility and the Rapid Credit Facility. The three different programmes are subsidised by the newly created Poverty Reduction and Growth Trust (PRGT). The IMF also engages with LICs through non-financial facilities, especially the Policy Support Instrument (PSI) and the Staff Monitored Programme (SMP). read article... |
Articles: 2881 Related itemsRecent briefings & reports
IMF mandate needs fundamental rethink 11 May 2010
Fundamental change or more of the same?: A review of G20 progress towards UK civil society recommendations 22 April 2010
The UK's role in the World Bank and IMF: Department for International Development and HM Treasury 26 March 2010
Dólares, devaluaciones y depresión : de cómo el sistema monetario internacional crea las crisis 22 October 2009
Dollars, devaluations and depressions: How the international monetary system creates crises 23 September 2009
IMF financial package for low-income countries: Much ado about nothing? 7 August 2009 Resources2010 Κρίση ευρωζώνης 15 June Reserves accumulation and international monetary stability 4 June List of IMF G-20 Surveillance Notes 4 June In search of lost revenue 1 June IMF mandate consultation submissions 1 June IMF mandate consultation, Kunibert Raffer 15 May Recovery with growth and decent work 1 May Public Information Notices on IMF mandate 22 April Public Information Notices on the Fund's Mandate - Future Financing Role 22 April |
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