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

The decision to create the IMF was made by 44 countries 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 foundation's charter. Authorized capital amounted to 7.6 billion dollars. The IMF began its first financial operations on March 1, 1947.

There are 184 countries that are members of the IMF.

The IMF has the authority to create and provide international financial reserves to its members in the form of " special rights borrowing" (SDR). SDR is a system for providing mutual loans in conventional monetary units - SDR, equal in gold content to the US dollar.

The fund's financial resources are generated primarily through subscriptions (“quotas”) from IMF member countries, the total amount of which currently amounts to about $293 billion. Quotas are determined based on the relative size of the economies of member states.

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

Russia signed an agreement to join 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, making a payment in the amount of 2.19 billion special drawing rights (SDR), which is equivalent to $3.33 billion. Thus, Russia saved $204 million, which it had to pay if the debt to the IMF was repaid according to the schedule before 2008.

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

Day-to-day operations are led by an Executive Board of 24 executive directors. The IMF's five largest shareholders (USA, 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 Chief of Staff of the IMF. He is appointed for a five-year term with the possibility of re-election.

According to the existing agreement between the United States and EU countries, the IMF is traditionally headed by Western European economists, while the chairman of the World Bank is chosen by the United States. Since 2007, the procedure for nominating candidates has been 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 Goutte, a Belgian economist and politician, former finance minister, who headed the Fund from May 1946 to May 1951.

IMF (abbreviation) - International Monetary Fund (IMF), an organization created at the UN Bretton Woods Conference in 1944 to ensure the stability of the international monetary, financial and international settlement system. The IMF is designed to help countries establish and maintain financial stability, in building and maintaining a strong economy.

Objectives of the IMF

  • Promoting cooperation in the foreign exchange sector
  • Expansion and growth of trade in the world
  • Fight against unemployment
  • Improving the economic performance of IMF member countries
  • Assistance in currency convertibility
  • Advisory assistance on financial issues
  • Providing loans to IMF member countries
  • Help in creating a multilateral settlement system between states

The Fund's financial resources come primarily from money paid by its members ("quotas"). Quotas are determined based on the relative size of the member states' economies. The quota indicates the amount of capital subscriptions, the ability to use the fund's resources, and the amount of special drawing rights (SDRs). ) received by the member country during their next distribution. The largest quotas in the IMF have the USA (42122.4 million SDR), Japan (15628.5 million SDR) and Germany (14565.5 million SDR), the smallest - Tuvalu (1.8 million SDR)

The IMF fulfills its tasks by distributing short-term loans to countries experiencing financial difficulties. Countries that take funds from the Fund, in turn, agree to implement policy reforms to address the causes of such difficulties. The size of IMF loans is limited in proportion to quotas. The Fund also provides concessional assistance to low-income member countries. The International Monetary Fund provides most of its loans in US dollars.

IMF requirements for Ukraine

In 2010, difficult economic situation Ukraine was forced by its authorities to resort to assistance from the IMF. In turn, the International Monetary Fund put forward its demands to the Ukrainian government, only if fulfilled would the Fund issue a loan to the country

  • Raise the retirement age by two years for men and three years for women.
  • Eliminate the institution of special pension benefits that are allocated to scientists, civil servants, and managers of state-owned enterprises. Limit pensions for working pensioners. Set the retirement age for army officers to 60 years.
  • Increase the price of gas for municipal enterprises by 50%, twice as much for private consumers. Increase the cost of electricity by 40%.
  • Cancel benefits and increase taxes on transport by 50%. Do not increase the cost of living, balance the social situation through targeted subsidies.
  • Privatize all mines and remove all subsidies. Cancel benefits for housing and communal services, transport and other enterprises.
  • Limit the practice of simplified taxation. Abolish the practice of VAT exemptions in rural areas. Oblige pharmacies and pharmacists to pay VAT.
  • Cancel the moratorium on the sale of agricultural land.
  • Reduce the composition of ministries to 14.
  • Limit excessive remuneration of government officials.
  • Unemployment benefits should only accrue after a minimum period of six months of work. Pay sick leave at 70% of wages, but not below the subsistence level. Pay sick leave starting only from the third day of illness

(Thus, the Fund determined the path for Ukraine to overcome the imbalance in the financial sector, when state expenses significantly exceeded its income. Whether this list is true or not is unknown, there is a war going on on the Internet as well as “on the ground”, but since 5 years have passed since that moment, and Ukraine has not yet received a large IMF loan, perhaps it is true)

The governing body of the IMF is the Board of Governors, in which all member countries are represented. According to Wikipedia, 184 states are members of the International Monetary Fund. The Board of Governors meets once a year. Day-to-day work is managed by an Executive Board of 24 members. IMF Center - Washington.

Decisions in the IMF are made not by a majority of votes, but by the largest “donors”, that is, Western countries have an absolute advantage in determining the Fund’s policy, since they are its main payers.

International Monetary Fund

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International Monetary Fund (IMF)
International Monetary Fund (IMF)

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 the early period of the IMF, but 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” or 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 - 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 welfare state. 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 fell to a 10 percent decline 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 of 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 to 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 Mexican support system was completely destroyed farms. 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 on and then pay off external debt in foreign currency leads to an economy focused exclusively on exports, regardless of any food security measures (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
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
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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
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The International Monetary Fund (IMF) was created to maintain stability in international monetary relations. Its official objectives, as set out in the IMF Charter, are cooperation in international monetary matters, assistance in stabilizing currencies, eliminating foreign exchange restrictions and creating a multilateral settlement system between countries, providing member countries with foreign exchange resources to eliminate temporary disturbances in their balance of payments. Since the beginning of the 80s. The IMF began to provide medium- and long-term loans (for 7-10 years) for “structural restructuring of the economy” to member countries carrying out radical economic and political reforms.

The IMF began its operations in March 1947 as a specialized agency of the UN. The location of the central office, Washington, has its branches and representative offices in a number of countries. The founders of the IMF were 44 countries; in 1999, its members were 182 states.

In governing bodies, votes are determined according to quotas. Each country has 250 votes plus 1 vote for every 100 thousand SDR units of its quota. Decisions are made by a simple majority (at least half) of votes, and on the most important issues - by a special majority (85% of votes are of a strategic nature, and 70% of an operational nature). Since the leading Western countries have the largest number of quotas in the IMF (USA - 17.5%, Japan - 6.3, Germany - 6.1, Great Britain and France - 5.1 each, Italy - 3.3%), and in general 25 economically developed countries - 62.8%, then these countries control and direct its activities in their interests. It should be noted that the United States, as well as EU countries (30.3%) can veto key decisions of the Fund, since their adoption requires a qualified majority of votes (85%). The role of other countries in decision-making is small, given their small quotas (Russia - 3.0%, China - 3.0%, Ukraine - 0.69%).

Authorized capital The IMF is formed from contributions from member states in accordance with a quota established for each country, which is determined based on the economic potential of the country and its place in the world economy and foreign trade.

In addition to its own capital, the IMF raises borrowed funds to expand its lending activities. To replenish credit resources, the IMF uses the following “mechanisms”:

    General agreement on loans;

    new loan agreements;

    borrowing funds from IMF member states.

In 1962, the Fund signed with 10 economically developed countries (USA, Germany, UK, Japan, France, etc.) General agreement on loans, which provided for the provision of revolving loans to the Fund. This agreement was initially concluded for 4 years, and then began to be renewed every 5 years. The credit limit was initially set at $6.5 billion CIIIA, and in 1983 increased to SDR 17 billion ($23.3 billion). In order to overcome financial emergencies, the IMF Executive Board (Directorate) expanded the Fund's borrowing capabilities by approving in 1997 New Borrowing Agreements, under which the IMF can attract up to 34 billion SDR (about 45 billion US dollars). The IMF also resorts to obtaining loans from central banks (in particular, it received a number of loans from the national banks of Belgium, Saudi Arabia, Japan and other countries).

The Fund, in turn, provides the funds received on loan terms for a certain period with payment of a certain percentage.

The most important activity of the Fund is its credit operations. According to the Charter. The IMF provides loans to member countries to restore equilibrium in their balance of payments and stabilize exchange rates. The IMF carries out lending operations only with official bodies of member countries: treasuries, central banks, stabilization funds.

A country in need of foreign currency or SDRs purchases them from the Fund in exchange for an equivalent amount in domestic currency, which is credited to the IMF account at the central bank of that country. Upon expiration of the established loan period, the country is obliged to perform the reverse operation, i.e., buy back the national currency in the special account from the Fund and return the received foreign currency or SDR. These types of loans are given for a period of up to 3 years and less often - 5 years. For the use of loans, the IMF charges a commission fee of 0.5% of the loan amount and an interest rate for the use of the loan, the amount of which is set on the basis of market rates in effect at the relevant time (most often it is 6-8% per annum). If the national currency of a debtor country held by the IMF is purchased by any member state, this is considered as repayment of debt to the Fund.

The size of loans provided by the Fund and the possibility of obtaining them are related to the fulfillment by the borrowing country of a number of conditions that are not always acceptable to these countries.

IMF since the early 50s. began to enter into agreements with member countries standby loan agreements, or stand-by agreements. Under such an agreement, a member country has the right to receive foreign currency from the IMF in exchange for national currency at any time, but on terms agreed with the Fund.

In order to provide assistance to IMF member countries experiencing difficulties in economic development for reasons beyond their control, as well as to assist in solving extensive problems of an economic and social nature. The Fund has created a number of special mechanisms that provide funds on foreign exchange terms. These include:

Compensatory and emergency financing mechanism, funds of which are allocated in connection with natural disasters that have befallen the country, unforeseen changes in world prices and other reasons;

Mechanism for financing buffer (reserve) stocks of raw materials created in accordance with international agreements;

External Debt Reduction and Service Facility, which provides funds to developing countries facing external debt crises;

A structural change support mechanism that focuses on countries transitioning to a market economy through radical economic and political reforms.

In addition to these currently functioning mechanisms, the IMF created temporary special funds that were designed to help overcome crisis currency situations that arose for various reasons (for example, an oil fund - to cover additional expenses due to a significant increase in prices for oil and petroleum products; a trust fund - to provide assistance to the poorest countries using proceeds from the sale of gold from the IMF reserves, etc.).

Russia became a member of the IMF in 1992. In terms of the size of the allocated quota (SDR 4.3 billion, or 3%) and the number of votes (43.4 thousand, or 2.9%), it took 9th place. Over the past years, Russia has received various types of loans from the Fund (reserve loans - stand-by, to support structural adjustment, etc.). In March 1996, the IMF Board of Governors approved the provision of an extended loan to Russia in the amount of $10.2 billion, which has already been used for the most part, including to repay the Fund's outstanding debt on previously provided loans. The total amount of Russia's debt to the Fund as of January 1, 1999 was $19.7 billion.

The World Bank Group includes the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) and its three affiliates - the International Development Association (MAP), the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA).

Headed by a single leadership, each of these institutions independently, at the expense of its own funds and on various conditions, finances investment projects and promotes the implementation of economic development programs in a number of countries.

We present to your attention a chapter from a monograph about the International Monetary Fund, which analyzes in detail the entire anatomy of this financial institution and its role in the global financial scheme.

Organization of the IMF

The International Monetary Fund, IMF, like the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, IBRD (later the World Bank), is a Bretton Woods international organization. The IMF and the World Bank formally belong to specialized institutions UN, but from the very beginning of their activities they rejected the coordinating and leadership role of the UN, citing the complete independence of their financial sources.

The creation of these two structures was initiated by the Council on Foreign Relations, one of the most influential semi-secret organizations traditionally associated with the implementation of the globalist project.

The task of creating such structures loomed as the end of the Second World War and the collapse of the colonial system approached. The question of the formation of a post-war international monetary and financial system and the creation of relevant international institutions, especially an interstate organization that would be designed to regulate currency and settlement relations between countries, became urgent. US bankers were especially persistent in advocating this.

Plans for the creation of a special body to “streamline” currency and settlement relations were developed by the United States and Great Britain. The American plan proposed the establishment of a “United Nations Stabilization Fund”, the participating states of which would have to undertake obligations not to change, without the consent of the Fund, the rates and parities of their currencies, expressed in gold and a special unit of account, and not to establish currency restrictions on current transactions and not enter into any bilateral (“discriminatory”) clearing and payment agreements. In turn, the Fund would provide them with short-term loans in foreign currency to cover current balance of payments deficits.

This plan was beneficial to the United States, an economically powerful power with higher competitiveness of goods compared to other countries and a steadily active balance of payments at that time.

An alternative English plan, developed by the famous economist J.M. Keynes, envisaged the creation of an “international clearing union” - a credit and settlement center designed to carry out international settlements using a special supranational currency (“bancor”) and ensure balance in payments, especially between the United States and all other states. Within the framework of this union, it was intended to maintain closed currency groups, in particular the sterling zone. The goal of the plan, designed to maintain Britain's position in the countries of the British Empire, was to strengthen its monetary and financial positions largely at the expense of American financial resources and with minimal concessions to the US ruling circles in matters of monetary policy.

Both plans were considered at the United Nations Monetary and Financial Conference, held in Bretton Woods (USA) from July 1 to July 22, 1944. Representatives of 44 states took part in the conference. The struggle that unfolded at the conference ended in the defeat of Great Britain.

The final act of the conference included Articles of Agreement (charter) on the International Monetary Fund and on the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development. December 27, 1945 The Articles of Agreement for the International Monetary Fund officially came into force. In practice, the IMF began operations on March 1, 1947.

Money for the creation of this supra-governmental organization came from J. P. Morgan, J. D. Rockefeller, P. Warburg, J. Schiff and other “international bankers.”

The USSR took part in the Bretton Woods Conference, but did not ratify the Articles of Agreement on the IMF.

Activities of the IMF

The IMF is intended to regulate monetary and credit relations of member states and provide short- and medium-term loans in foreign currency. The International Monetary Fund provides most of its loans in US dollars. During its existence, the IMF has become the main supranational body regulating international monetary and financial relations. The seat of the IMF's governing bodies is Washington (USA). This is quite symbolic - in the future it will be seen that the IMF is almost completely controlled by the United States and the countries of the Western alliance and, accordingly, in managerial and operational terms - by the Fed. It is no coincidence, therefore, that these actors and, first of all, the above-mentioned “club of beneficiaries” also receive real benefits from the IMF’s activities.

The official objectives of the IMF are:

  • "contribute international cooperation monetary and financial sphere";
  • “to promote 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;
  • “to ensure the stability of currencies, maintain orderly foreign exchange relations among member states and prevent the depreciation of currencies in order to gain competitive advantages”;
  • provide assistance in the creation of a multilateral settlement system between member states, as well as in the elimination of exchange restrictions;
  • provide member states with temporary funds in foreign currencies to enable them to “correct imbalances in their balance of payments.”

However, based on the facts characterizing the results of the IMF's activities throughout its history, a different, real picture of its goals is reconstructed. They again allow us to talk about a system of global acquisitiveness in favor of a minority that controls the World Monetary Fund.

As of May 25, 2011, 187 countries are members of the IMF. Each country has a quota expressed in SDR. The quota determines the amount of capital subscription, the possibility of using the fund's resources and the amount of SDRs received by a member state during their next distribution. The capital of the International Monetary Fund has constantly increased since its formation, with the quotas of the most economically developed member countries increasing at a particularly rapid pace (Figure 6.3).



The United States (SDR 42,122.4 million), Japan (SDR 15,628.5 million) and Germany (SDR 14,565.5 million) have the largest quotas in the IMF, and Tuvalu has the smallest (SDR 1.8 million). The IMF operates on the principle of a “weighted” number of votes, when decisions are made not by a majority of equal votes, but by the largest “donors” (Figure 6.4).



In total, the United States and the countries of the Western alliance have more than 50% of the votes against a few percent of China, India, Russia, Latin American or Islamic countries. From which it is obvious that the former have a monopoly on decision-making, i.e. the IMF, like the Fed, is controlled by these countries. When critical strategic issues are raised, including issues of reform of the IMF itself, only the United States has veto power.

The United States, along with other developed countries, has a simple majority of votes in the IMF. Over the past 65 years, European countries and other economically prosperous countries have always voted in solidarity with the United States. Thus, it becomes clear in whose interests the IMF functions and by whom it implements the geopolitical goals set.

Requirements of the Articles of Agreement (Charter) of the IMF/IMF Members

Joining the IMF in mandatory requires the country to comply with the rules governing its foreign economic relations. The Articles of Agreement set out the universal obligations of member states. The IMF's statutory requirements are aimed primarily at liberalizing foreign economic activity, in particular the monetary and financial sphere. It is obvious that the liberalization of the external economy of developing countries provides enormous advantages to economically developed countries, opening markets for their more competitive products. At the same time, the economies of developing countries, which, as a rule, need protectionist measures, suffer large losses, entire industries (not related to the sale of raw materials) become ineffective and die. In Section 7.3, statistical generalization allows us to see such results.

The Charter requires member states to eliminate currency restrictions and maintain the convertibility of national currencies. Article VIII contains the obligations of member states not to impose restrictions on current account payments without the fund's consent, as well as to refrain from participating in discriminatory exchange rate agreements and not resorting to the practice of multiple exchange rates.

If in 1978 46 countries (1/3 of the IMF members) assumed obligations under Article VIII to avoid currency restrictions, then in April 2004 there were already 158 countries (more than 4/5 of the members).

In addition, the IMF's charter obliges member states to cooperate with the fund in the conduct of exchange rate policy. Although the Jamaican amendments to the charter gave countries the opportunity to choose any exchange rate regime, in practice the IMF takes measures to establish a floating exchange rate for leading currencies and link the monetary units of developing countries to them (primarily the US dollar), in particular, it introduces a currency board regime ). It is interesting to note that China's return to a fixed exchange rate in 2008 (Figure 6.5), which caused strong dissatisfaction with the IMF, is one of the explanations why the global financial and economic crisis actually did not affect China.



Russia, in its “anti-crisis” financial and economic policy, followed the instructions of the IMF, and the blow of the crisis on the Russian economy turned out to be the most severe not only in comparison with comparable countries in the world, but even in comparison with the vast majority of countries in the world.

The IMF maintains ongoing “close surveillance” of the macroeconomic and monetary policies of its member countries, as well as the state of the global economy.

This involves regular (usually annual) consultations with government agencies of member states regarding their exchange rate policies. At the same time, member states are obliged to consult with the IMF on issues of macroeconomic as well as structural policy. In addition to traditional surveillance targets (eliminating macroeconomic imbalances, reducing inflation, implementing market reforms), the IMF, after the collapse of the USSR, began to pay more attention to structural and institutional transformations in member countries. And this already calls into question the political sovereignty of the states subject to “supervision”. The structure of the International Monetary Fund is shown in Fig. 6.6.

Supreme governing body The IMF has a Board of Governors, in which each member country is represented by a governor (usually finance ministers or central bankers) and his deputy.

The council is responsible for resolving key issues in the IMF's activities: amending the Articles of Agreement, admitting and expelling member countries, determining and revising their shares in 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 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 credit to member countries and overseeing their policies. in the field of exchange rates.

Since 1992, there have been 24 executive directors on the executive board. Currently, out of 24 executive directors, 5 (21%) have an American education. The IMF's Executive Board elects a Managing Director for a five-year term, who heads the fund's staff and is the chairman of the executive board. Among the 32 representatives of the IMF's top management, 16 (50%) were educated in the United States, 1 worked for a transnational corporation, and 1 taught at an American university.

The managing director of the IMF, according to informal agreements, is always European, and his first deputy is always American.

Role of the IMF

The IMF provides loans in foreign currency to member countries for two purposes: first, to cover balance of payments deficits, i.e., in fact, to replenish official foreign exchange reserves; secondly, to support macroeconomic stabilization and structural restructuring of the economy, and therefore to finance government budget expenditures.

A country in need of foreign currency purchases or borrows foreign currency or SDRs in exchange for an equivalent amount in domestic currency, which is deposited in the IMF's account with its central bank as depository. At the same time, the IMF, as noted, provides loans mainly in US dollars.

During the first two decades of its activity (1947–1966), the IMF lent to a greater extent to developed countries, which accounted for 56.4% of the loan amount (including 41.5% of the funds received by Great Britain). Since the 1970s The IMF refocused its activities on providing loans to developing countries (Figure 6.7).


It is interesting to note the time limit (late 1970s), after which the global neocolonial system began to actively take shape, replacing the collapsed colonial one. The main lending mechanisms using IMF resources are as follows.

Reserve share. The first “portion” of foreign currency that a member country can purchase from the IMF, within the limits of 25% of the quota, was called “golden” before the Jamaica Agreement, and since 1978 - the reserve tranche.

Credit shares. Funds in foreign currency that can be purchased by a member state in excess of the reserve share are divided into four credit tranches, each representing 25% of the quota. Member states' access to IMF credit resources within the framework of loan shares is limited: the amount of a country's currency in IMF assets cannot exceed 200% of its quota (including 75% of the quota contributed by subscription). The maximum loan amount that a country can receive from the IMF through the use of reserve and credit shares is 125% of its quota.

Reserve loans stand-by arrangements. This mechanism has been used since 1952. This practice of providing loans is the opening of a line of credit. Since the 1950s and until the mid-1970s. agreements on standby loans had a term of up to a year, from 1977 - up to 18 months, later - up to 3 years, due to an increase in balance of payments deficits.

Extended fund facility has been in use since 1974. Under this mechanism, loans are provided for even longer periods (3–4 years) in larger amounts. The use of stand-by loans and extended loans - the most common credit mechanisms before the global financial and economic crisis - is associated with the fulfillment by the borrower state of certain conditions providing for the implementation of certain financial and economic (and often political) measures. At the same time, the degree of severity of conditions increases as you move from one credit share to another. Some conditions must be met before receiving a loan.

If the IMF considers that a country is using a loan “contrary to the goals of the fund” and does not fulfill the requirements, it may limit its further lending and refuse to provide the next loan tranche. This mechanism allows the IMF to actually manage the borrowing country.

Upon expiration of the established period, the borrowing state is obliged to repay the debt (“repurchase” the national currency from the Fund), returning to it the funds in SDRs or foreign currencies. Stand-by loans are repaid within 3 years and 3 months - 5 years from the date of receipt of each tranche, for extended lending - 4.5–10 years. In order to speed up the turnover of its capital, the IMF “encourages” faster repayment of loans received by debtors.

In addition to these standard mechanisms, the IMF has special lending mechanisms. They differ in the purposes, conditions and cost of loans. Special lending facilities include the following. The compensatory lending facility, MCC (com pen sato ry i nancing facility, CFF), is intended for lending to countries whose balance of payments deficit is caused by temporary and external factors beyond their control. The supplementary reserve facility (SRF) was introduced in December 1997 to provide funds to member countries experiencing “exceptional balance of payments difficulties” and in dire need of expanded short-term lending due to a sudden loss of confidence in the currency. which causes capital flight from the country and a sharp reduction in its gold and foreign exchange reserves. This credit is supposed to be provided in cases where capital flight could pose a potential threat to the entire global monetary system.

Emergency assistance is designed to help overcome balance of payments deficits caused by unpredictable natural disasters (since 1962) and crisis situations resulting from civil unrest or military-political conflicts (since 1995). Emergency Financing Mechanism (EFM) (since 1995) is a set of procedures that ensures that the Fund provides accelerated loans to member states in the event of an emergency crisis situation in the field of international payments that requires immediate assistance from the IMF.

The Trade Integration Mechanism (TIM) was created in April 2004 in connection with the possible temporary negative consequences for a number of developing countries of the results of negotiations on further expansion of international trade liberalization within the framework of the Doha Round of the World War II. trade organization. This mechanism is intended to provide financial support to countries whose balance of payments is deteriorating due to measures taken in the direction of liberalization of trade policies by other countries. However, MPTI is not an independent credit mechanism in the literal sense of the word, but a certain political setting.

Such a wide representation of multi-purpose IMF loans indicates that the fund offers borrowing countries its instruments in almost any situation.

For the poorest countries (those with GDP per capita below a certain threshold) that are unable to pay interest on conventional loans, the IMF provides preferential “assistance,” although the share of concessional loans in total IMF loans is extremely small (Figure 6.8).

In addition, the tacit guarantee of solvency provided by the IMF as a “bonus” along with the loan extends to more economically powerful players in the international arena. Even a small loan from the IMF makes it easier for a country to access the global loan capital market and helps obtain loans from the governments of developed countries, central banks, the World Bank group, the Bank for International Settlements, as well as from private commercial banks. Conversely, the IMF’s refusal to provide credit support to a country denies its access to the loan capital market. In such conditions, countries are simply forced to turn to the IMF, even if they understand that the conditions put forward by the IMF will have disastrous consequences for the national economy.

In Fig. 6.8 also shows that at the beginning of its activities the IMF played a rather modest role as a lender. However, since the 1970s. there was a significant expansion of its lending activities.

Terms of loans

The provision of loans by the fund to member states is subject to their fulfillment of certain political and economic conditions. This procedure is called “conditionality” of loans. Officially, the IMF justifies this practice by the need to have confidence that borrowing countries will be able to repay their debts, ensuring the uninterrupted circulation of the Fund's resources. In fact, a mechanism for external management of borrower states has been built.

Since the IMF is dominated by monetarist, and more broadly, neoliberal theoretical views, its “practical” stabilization programs usually include reductions in government spending, including for social purposes, the elimination or reduction of government subsidies for food, consumer goods and services (which leads to higher prices on these goods), an increase in taxes on income individuals(with a simultaneous reduction in taxes on business), restraining growth or “freezing” wages, increasing discount rates, limiting the volume of investment lending, liberalizing foreign economic relations, devaluing the national currency, followed by an increase in the price of imported goods, etc.

Concept economic policy, which now forms the content of the conditions for receiving IMF loans, was formed in the 1980s. in the circles of leading economists and business circles in the United States, as well as other Western countries, and is known as the “Washington Consensus”.

It involves such structural changes in economic systems, such as the privatization of enterprises, the introduction of market pricing, the liberalization of foreign economic activity. The IMF sees the main (if not the only) reason for the imbalance of the economy and the imbalance in international payments of borrowing countries in the excess aggregate effective demand in the country, caused primarily by the state budget deficit and excessive expansion of the money supply.

The implementation of IMF programs most often leads to a curtailment of investments, a slowdown in economic growth, and an aggravation of social problems. This is due to a decrease in real wages and living standards, rising unemployment, redistribution of income in favor of the rich at the expense of less affluent groups of the population, and growing property differentiation.

As for the former socialist states, the obstacle to solving their macroeconomic problems, from the point of view of the IMF, is the defects of an institutional and structural nature, therefore, when providing a loan, the fund focuses its requirements on the implementation of long-term structural changes in their economic and political systems.

The IMF pursues a very ideological policy. In fact, it finances the restructuring and inclusion of national economies in global speculative capital flows, i.e. their “linkage” to the global financial metropolis.

With the expansion of lending operations in the 1980s. The IMF has taken a course towards tightening their conditionality. It was then that the use of structural conditions in IMF programs became widespread in the 1990s. it has intensified significantly.

It is not surprising that the IMF’s recommendations to recipient countries in most cases are directly opposite to the anti-crisis policies of developed countries (Table 6.1), which practice countercyclical measures - the fall in demand from households and businesses in them is compensated by increased government spending (benefits, subsidies, etc.) . p.) due to the expansion of the budget deficit and an increase in public debt. At the height of the global financial and economic crisis in 2008, the IMF supported such a policy in the USA, EU and China, but prescribed a different “medicine” for its “patients”. “31 out of 41 IMF assistance agreements provide for pro-cyclical, i.e., tighter monetary or fiscal policy,” notes a report from the Washington-based Center for Economic and Policy Research.



These double standards have always existed and have many times led to large-scale crises in developing countries. The application of IMF recommendations is focused on the formation of a unipolar model of development of the world community.

The role of the IMF in regulating international monetary, credit and financial relations

The IMF periodically makes changes to the world monetary system. Firstly, the IMF acted as a conductor of the policy adopted by the West at the initiative of the United States to demonetize gold and weaken its role in the global monetary system. Initially, the IMF's Articles of Agreement gave gold an important place in its liquid resources. The first step toward eliminating gold from the postwar international monetary mechanism was the United States' August 1971 cessation of gold sales for foreign government dollars. In 1978, the IMF's charter was amended to prohibit member countries from using gold as a means of expressing the value of their currencies; were simultaneously abolished official price gold in dollars and the gold content of the SDR unit.

The International Monetary Fund has played a leading role in the process of expanding the influence of transnational corporations and banks in countries with transition and developing economies. Providing these countries in the 1990s. IMF borrowing significantly contributed to the activation of the activities of transnational corporations and banks in these countries.

In connection with the process of globalization of financial markets, the Executive Board in 1997 initiated the development of new amendments to the IMF Articles of Agreement in order to make the liberalization of capital movements a special goal of the IMF, to include them within its sphere of competence, i.e., to extend to them the requirement for the abolition of foreign exchange restrictions. The IMF Interim Committee adopted a special statement on capital liberalization at its session in Hong Kong on September 21, 1997, calling on the Executive Board to expedite work on amendments in order to “add a new chapter to the Bretton Woods Agreement.” However, the development of the global currency and financial crises in 1997–1998. slowed down this process. Some countries have been forced to introduce capital controls. Nevertheless, the IMF remains committed to lifting restrictions on international capital movements.

In the context of analyzing the causes of the global financial crisis of 2008, it is also important to note that the International Monetary Fund relatively recently (since 1999) came to the conclusion that it was necessary to extend its area of ​​responsibility to the functioning of global financial markets and financial systems.

The emergence of the IMF's intention to regulate international financial relations caused changes in its organizational structure. First, in September 1999, the International Monetary and Financial Committee was formed, which became a permanent body for strategic planning of the IMF on issues related to the functioning of the global monetary and financial system.

In 1999, the IMF and the World Bank adopted a joint Financial Sector Assessment Program (FSAP), which should provide member countries with tools to assess the health of their financial systems.

In 2001, a department for international capital markets was created. In June 2006, a joint Monetary Systems and Capital Markets Department (MSCMD) was established. Less than 10 years have passed since the inclusion of the global financial sector in the competence of the IMF and since the beginning of its “regulation”, when the largest global financial crisis in history broke out.

The IMF and the global financial and economic crisis of 2008

It is impossible not to note one fundamental point. In 2007, this largest global financial institution was in deep crisis. At that time, practically no one took or expressed a desire to take loans from the IMF. In addition, even those countries that received loans earlier tried to get rid of this financial burden as soon as possible. As a result, the size of conventional loans outstanding fell to a record level for the 21st century. marks - less than 10 billion SDR (Fig. 6.9).

The world community, with the exception of the beneficiaries of the IMF's activities represented by the United States and other economically developed countries, actually abandoned the IMF mechanism. And then something happened. Namely, the global financial and economic crisis broke out. The number of agreements on new loans, which tended to zero before the crisis, increased at a rate unprecedented in the history of the fund’s activities (Figure 6.10).

The crisis that began in 2008 literally saved the IMF from collapse. Is this a coincidence? One way or another, the global financial and economic crisis of 2008 was extremely beneficial to the International Monetary Fund, and therefore to those countries in whose interests it functions.

After the global crisis of 2008, it became obvious that the IMF needed reform. By the beginning of 2010, the total losses of the global financial system exceeded $4 trillion (about 12% of global gross product), two-thirds of which were generated in bad assets of American banks.

In what direction did the reform go? First of all, the IMF tripled its resources. After the G20 London summit in April 2009, the IMF received colossal additional reserves for lending - more than $500 billion, in addition to its existing $250 billion, although it uses less than $100 billion for assistance programs. After the crisis, it became clear that the IMF wanted to take on even more power in managing the global economy and finances.

The trend is to gradually turn the IMF into a macroeconomic policy watchdog in almost all countries of the world. It is obvious that in the conditions of such “reform” new world crises are inevitable.

This chapter of the monograph uses material from the dissertation of M.V. Deeva.