March 1 in History
1947 – The International Monetary Fund begins financial operations
Regarded as the global lender of last resort, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), formed in 1944, and coming into formal existence in 1945 at the Bretton Woods Conference, began financial operations on this day in 1947.
Headquartered in Washington, DC, and consisting of 190 countries the Fund’s stated mission is ‘working to foster global monetary cooperation, secure financial stability, facilitate international trade, promote high employment and sustainable economic growth, and reduce poverty around the world’.
Set up with the goal of reconstructing the international monetary system, the Fund now plays a central role in the management of balance of payments difficulties and international financial crises. Countries contribute funds to a pool through a quota system from which countries experiencing balance of payments problems can borrow money. As of 2016, the fund had XDR 477 billion (about US$ 667 billion).
Through the fund and other activities such as the gathering of statistics and analysis, surveillance of its members’ economies, and the demand for particular policies, the IMF works to influence the economies of its member countries. The organization’s objectives stated in the Articles of Agreement are: to promote international monetary co-operation, international trade, high employment, exchange-rate stability, sustainable economic growth, and making resources available to member countries in financial difficulty.
-ENCL
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