Decoding mfv. International Monetary Fund (IMF). Features of the provision of financial assistance

Strauss-Kahn continues to fight for political survival, with supporters claiming the harassment allegations are a conspiracy. At the same time, within the International Monetary Fund (IMF) itself, the struggle for the post of head has already begun. Emerging economies demand that this prestigious seat be given to them, but the Europeans do not give up their claims either.

The International Monetary Fund is a $325 billion organization headquartered in Washington DC. Until very recently, the IMF had only one main issue - saving the euro. The share of this fund in aid packages for Greece, Ireland and Portugal is 78.5 billion euros. Quietly and effectively, the fund acted as an intermediary between Europe's debtors and donors.

After the arrest of the head of the IMF, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, which was carried out on Saturday evening, New York time, the fund itself became a toy for representatives of various interests. The once-powerful head of the IMF continues to fight for his political survival. His supporters are spreading rumors and evidence that the attempted rape charge is a secret service-style conspiracy. DSK - as it is sometimes abbreviated - did not allegedly attempt to rape the maid at New York's Sofitel hotel, as that was when he allegedly dined with his daughter.

Installed that nothing is installed. It is believed throughout the world that one should not rush to condemn him. Federal Chancellor Angela Merkel also said yesterday that the results of the investigation should be awaited.

She said so, but she did it differently. A few minutes later, Merkel, speaking on behalf of Europe, announced her claims to the position of head of the IMF: although in principle this is correct, and in the “medium term”, according to Merkel, countries with developing economies can claim leading positions in international organizations. “However, I believe that in today's conditions, when we have a lot of discussions about the European space, there are good reasons for Europe to have good candidates at its disposal,” she stressed.

Since ignoring one's own interests costs nothing, Merkel gave hope to emerging economies: "The conditions in the IMF should reflect the balance of power in the world," Merkel said at the G20 summit in Seoul. Shortly before this, the 20 major economies of the world decided to increase the share of the vote of countries with developing economies. The words of the head of the Eurogroup Jean-Claude Juncker (Jean-Cluade Juncker) sounded even more definite. Strauss-Kahn is "the last European" to head the IMF "for the foreseeable future," he said back in 2007.

Countries with developing economies have responded joyfully to this opinion of the West. It is high time to move away from a model dominated only by industrialized states, said Brazilian Finance Minister Guido Mantega.

Now comes the sobering up. And after sobering up, the struggle for power begins. Berlin announced yesterday that it was conducting soundings "with our European friends" on the issue of a candidate for the head of the IMF.

The struggle of emerging economies for more influence in the IMF began even before Strauss-Kahn's arrest. In April of this year, Brazil's finance minister complained that the Americans regularly run the World Bank and the Europeans run the IMF. Such a system, in his opinion, is already outdated. These posts should be distributed according to ability, and the process itself should be transparent, demanded the Brazilian.

In other words, those countries that are driving global growth - that is, China, India, and Brazil - should have a chance to take leadership positions in the future. The share of the leading countries with developing economies in the global gross domestic product only over the past 20 years (by 2010) increased from 10.4% to 24.2%, while the share of the seven largest industrial countries, on the contrary, decreased from 64.9% to 50 .7%.

Therefore, back in the fall, countries with developing economies received additional votes in the IMF. The finance ministers of the 20 largest industrialized and emerging economies (G20) have decided to distribute almost 6% of the voting rights previously held by industrial powers among countries such as China, India, Brazil and Russia. As a result of the reform, these four countries received more rights and more responsibility in the executive directorate of the International Monetary Fund. In March, this reform came into force.

Now they demand changes on a personal level as well. That is why, immediately after the events with Dominique Strauss-Kahn in New York, the name of Turkish politician Kemal Dervis began to be mentioned more and more often. The architect of Turkey's ten-year-old economic reforms and longtime senior World Bank official comes from an emerging economy and is considered a brilliant economist. Since he is from Turkey, he could apparently be in the business of building bridges between Asia, Europe and the United States.

His work at the Washington-based World Bank has provided him with excellent connections. And in Europe, he no longer has the image of a person who primarily protects the interests of Turkey. Kemal Dervis is now seen more as an international economist who happens to hold a Turkish passport.

Dervis' name was already mentioned at the annual meeting of the Asian Development Bank, which took place almost a week ago in the Vietnamese city of Hanoi. Maybe it's time for an Asian to head the IMF. Nobel laureate Joseph Stiglitz also thinks he's an excellent candidate, as he said in a private discussion on Monday.

The Chinese leadership is rather reserved in connection with the threatening departure of Strauss-Kahn, but in fact, this scandal suits Beijing quite well - the European leaves his post in disgrace, and this creates the conditions for reviewing the existing structures. The informal agreement of the industrialized states that the European should always be at the head of the International Monetary Fund is irritating this rising economic power. From the Chinese point of view, this kind of arrangement is outdated and reminiscent of the times of colonialism.

Americans and Europeans can share leadership positions between themselves, since together they have enough votes to block other proposals. Even after the reform, China, as the second largest economy in the world, has 3.82% of the vote and is far behind the US, which has almost 17%. These figures also reflect the share of participation in invested capital. China, of course, would be willing to pay more for more influence, but under existing rules, it cannot do so.

That is why the Chinese at meetings like the G20 constantly advocate the introduction of a system that would more accurately reflect the world's economic realities. They see themselves as champions of the rights of other emerging economies, and besides, the Chinese secretly hope to secure a leading international role in this way.

Other emerging economies, including India and Russia, are far less ambitious about IMF reform. "They want to solve the problems they currently have, but they don't intend to rewrite the global rules of the game," said Paris-Dauphine University economist Jean Pisani-Ferry. China also assumes that it is not yet in a position to press its demands - after all, its own national currency is not yet freely convertible.

This is also why French government circles are discussing the idea of ​​keeping the existing structures and instead of Strauss-Kahn sending an internationally reputed Treasury Secretary Christine Lagarde to Washington. On paper, she
looks like a very suitable candidate: while working as a lawyer, she met all the major figures in the financial world, and during the financial crisis she earned herself a reputation as a charming but exceptionally tough negotiating partner. In addition, the post of head of the IMF could open up additional prospects for her, especially given the possible defeat of her boss, Nicolas Sarkozy, in the 2012 presidential election. So far, judging by the official statements made, she plans to compete for the mandate of a simple member of parliament.

Her problem: "The DSK case has undermined the credibility of France and their candidates for high international positions," they say in Paris. DSC is the internationally accepted abbreviation for Dominique Strauss-Kahn. In addition, Lagarde herself became a participant in a high-profile case, which, however, cannot be compared with the problems of Strauss-Kahn. She is accused of using her influence to win a favorable ruling for the well-known French entrepreneur in a dispute between the state and Bernard Tapie over the sale of a stake in Adidas. This case has not received much international publicity, but it may become an obstacle in the event that Lagarde will apply for the post of head of the IMF.

When it comes to such responsible positions as the head of the IMF, the candidate will be screened - and now for real - twice as carefully.

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

The decision to create the IMF was taken by 44 states 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 fund's charter. The authorized capital amounted to 7.6 billion dollars. The first financial operations of the IMF began on March 1, 1947.

184 states are members of the IMF.

The IMF has the authority to create and make available to its members international financial reserves in the form of "special drawing rights" (SDRs). SDR - a system for providing mutual loans in conditional monetary units - SDRs, equated in terms of gold content to the US dollar.

The Fund's financial resources come primarily from subscriptions ("quotas") from IMF member countries, which currently total about $293 billion. Quotas are determined on the basis of the relative size of the member states' economies.

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

Russia signed an agreement on joining 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 by making a payment of 2.19 billion Special Drawing Rights (SDRs), equivalent to $3.33 billion. Thus, Russia saved $204 million, which it had to pay in case of repayment of the debt to the IMF according to the schedule until 2008.

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

The day-to-day operations are managed by an Executive Board of 24 Executive Directors. The five largest shareholders of the IMF (US, 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 the head of staff of the IMF. He is appointed for a five-year term with the possibility of re-election.

According to the agreement existing between the US and the EU countries, the IMF is traditionally headed by Western European economists, while the US chairs the World Bank. Since 2007, the procedure for nominating candidates has 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 Gutt, a Belgian economist and politician, former Minister of Finance, who headed the Fund from May 1946 to May 1951.

International Monetary Fund, IMF(International Monetary Fund, IMF) is a specialized agency of the United Nations, the decision to establish which was made on monetary and financial issues in 1944. The agreement on the establishment of the IMF was signed by 29 states on December 27, 1945, and the Fund began its work on 1 March 1947 As of March 1, 2016, 188 states are members of the IMF.

The main objectives of the IMF are:

1. promotion of international cooperation in the monetary and financial sphere;
2. promoting the expansion and balanced growth of international trade, the achievement of a high level of employment and real incomes of member states;
3. ensuring the stability of currencies, maintaining orderly monetary relations and preventing the depreciation of national currencies in order to obtain competitive advantages;
4. assistance in the creation of multilateral settlement systems between member states, as well as in the elimination of currency restrictions;
5. provision of funds in foreign currency to the member states of the Fund in order to eliminate imbalances in their balance of payments.

The main functions of the IMF are:

1. promotion of international cooperation in the field of monetary policy and ensuring stability;
2. lending to member countries of the Fund;
3. stabilization of exchange rates;
4. advising governments, monetary authorities and financial market regulators;
5. development of international financial statistics standards and the like.

The authorized capital of the IMF is formed by contributions from member countries, each of which pays 25% of its quota in or in the currency of other member countries, and the remaining 75% in national currency. Based on the size of quotas, votes are distributed among member countries in the governing bodies of the IMF. As of March 1, 2016, the authorized capital of the IMF was 467.2 billion SDRs. Ukraine's quota is 2011.8 billion SDRs, which is 0.43% of the total IMF quota.

The supreme governing body of the IMF is the Board of Governors, in which each member country is represented by a governor and his deputy. As a rule, these are finance ministers or heads of central banks. The Council resolves key issues of the Fund's activities: amending the Articles of the Agreement on the IMF, admitting and expelling member countries, determining and reviewing their quotas in the Fund's capital, and electing executive directors. The session of the Council takes place, as a rule, once a year. Decisions of the Board of Governors are taken by a simple majority (at least half) of the votes, and on important issues - by a "special majority" (70 or 85%).

The other governing body is the Executive Board, which determines IMF policy and consists of 24 executive directors. Directors are appointed by the eight countries with the largest quotas in the Fund - the United States, Japan, Germany, France, Great Britain, China, Russia and Saudi Arabia. The rest of the countries are organized into 16 groups, each of which elects one executive director. Together with the Netherlands, Romania and Israel, Ukraine is part of the Dutch group of countries.

The IMF operates the principle of "weighted" number of votes: the ability of member countries to influence the activities of the Fund by 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 100,000 SDRs of the amount of this contribution.

An essential role in the organizational structure of the IMF is played by the International Monetary and Financial Committee, which is an advisory body of the Council. Its functions are to develop strategic decisions related to the functioning of the world monetary system and the activities of the IMF, develop proposals for amending the Articles of Agreement on the IMF, and the like. 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 (Joint IMF - World Bank Development Committee).

Part of its powers are delegated by the Board of Governors to the Executive Board, which is responsible for the day-to-day work of the IMF and resolves a wide range of operational and administrative issues, including granting loans to member countries and overseeing their policies.

The IMF's Executive Board elects a Managing Director for a five-year term, who leads the Fund's staff. As a rule, he represents one of the European countries.

In the event of problems in the country's economy, the IMF can provide loans, which, as a rule, are accompanied by certain recommendations aimed at improving the situation. Such loans, for example, were provided to Mexico, Ukraine, Ireland, Greece and many other countries.

Loans can be provided in four main areas.

1. On the basis of the reserve share (Reserve Tranche) of the IMF member country within 25% of the quota, the country can receive a loan almost freely on the first request.
2. On a credit share basis, a country's access to IMF credit resources cannot exceed 200% of its quota.
3. Based on Stand-by Arrangements, which have been provided since 1952 and provide a guarantee that, within a certain amount and subject to certain conditions, a country can freely receive a loan from the IMF in exchange for the national currency. In practice, this is done by opening the country. granted for periods ranging from several months to several years.
4. Based on the Extended Fund Facility, since 1974, the IMF has been providing loans for long periods and in amounts exceeding countries' quotas. The basis for a country's application to the IMF for a loan under expanded lending is a serious imbalance caused by unfavorable structural changes. Such loans are usually provided in tranches for several years. Their main purpose is to assist countries in implementing stabilization programs or structural reforms. The Fund requires the country to meet certain conditions. The obligations of the borrowing country, which provide for the implementation of appropriate financial and economic measures, are recorded in the Memorandum of Economic and Financial Policies and sent to the IMF. The progress of fulfillment of obligations is periodically monitored by evaluating the provided target criteria for the implementation of the Memorandum (Performance Criteria).

Cooperation between Ukraine and the IMF is carried out on the basis of regular missions of the IMF, as well as cooperation with the representative office of the Fund in Ukraine. As of February 1, 2016, Ukraine's total debt on loans to the IMF amounted to 7.7 billion SDRs.

(See Special Drawing Rights; Official website of the IMF:

International Monetary Fund, IMF(eng. International Monetary Fund, IMF) is a specialized agency of the United Nations, headquartered in Washington, USA.

The IMF operates the principle of "weighted" number of votes: the ability of member countries to influence the activities of the Fund by 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 SDRs of the amount of this contribution. In the event that a country bought (sold) the SDRs it received during the initial issue of SDRs, the number of its votes increases (reduces) by 1 for every 400,000 purchased (sold) SDRs. This correction is carried out by no more than ¼ of the number of votes received for the country's contribution to the Fund's capital. This arrangement ensures a decisive majority of votes for the leading states.

Decisions in the Board of Governors are usually taken by a simple majority (at least half) of the votes, and on important issues of an operational or strategic nature, by a “special majority” (respectively, 70 or 85% of the votes of the member countries). Despite some reduction in the share of US and EU votes, 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 the leading Western states, has the ability to exercise control over the decision-making process in the IMF and direct its activities based on their own interests. With coordinated action, developing countries are also in a position to avoid the adoption of decisions that do not suit them. However, it is difficult for a large number of heterogeneous countries to achieve coherence. At a meeting of Fund leaders in April 2004, the intention was to "enhance the ability of developing countries and countries with economies in transition to participate more effectively in the IMF's decision-making mechanism."

An essential role in the organizational structure of the IMF is played by International Monetary and Financial Committee(IMFC; eng. International Monetary and Financial Committee). From 1974 until September 1999, its predecessor was the Interim Committee on the International Monetary System. It consists of 24 IMF governors, including from Russia, and meets in its sessions twice a year. This committee is an advisory body of the Board of Governors and does not have the power to make policy decisions. Nevertheless, it performs important functions: directs the activities of the Executive Council; develops strategic decisions related to the functioning of the world monetary system and the activities of the IMF; Submits proposals to the Board of Governors to amend 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 WB and the Fund (Joint IMF - World Bank Development Committee).

The Board of Governors delegates many of its powers Executive Council(eng. Executive board), that is, the directorate that is responsible for the conduct of the affairs of the IMF, including a wide range of political, operational and administrative issues, in particular the provision of loans to member countries and oversight of their exchange rate policies.

The IMF Executive Board elects for a five-year term managing director(Eng. Managing Director), who heads the staff of the Fund (as of March 2009 - about 2478 people from 143 countries). As a rule, he represents one of the European countries. Managing Director (since July 5, 2011) - Christine Lagarde (France), her first deputy - John Lipsky (USA).

Main 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 "gold" 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 the national currency of a member country to provide credit to other countries, then the reserve share of such a country increases accordingly. The outstanding amount of loans made by a member country to the Fund under the NHS and NHA loan agreements constitutes its credit position. The reserve share and 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 (in case of its full use, the IMF's holdings in the country's currency reach 100% of the quota) are divided into four credit shares, or tranches (Credit Tranches), which make up 25% of the quota . Member countries' access to IMF credit resources within the framework of credit shares is limited: the amount of the country's currency in the IMF's assets cannot exceed 200% of its quota (including 75% of the quota paid by subscription). Thus, the maximum amount of credit that a country can receive from the Fund as a result of using the reserve and loan 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 in many cases are used in amounts exceeding the limit fixed in the statute. Therefore, the concept of "upper credit shares" (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 arrangements for stand-by loans(since 1952) provide a member country with a guarantee that, within a certain amount and during the term of the agreement, subject to the agreed conditions, the country can freely receive foreign currency from the IMF in exchange for national. This practice of granting loans is the opening of a line of credit. If the use of the first credit share can be made in the form of a direct purchase of foreign currency after the approval of the request by the Fund, then the allocation of funds against the upper credit shares is usually carried out through arrangements with member countries on standby credits. From the 1950s to the mid-1970s, stand-by credit agreements 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 Facility(Eng. Extended Fund Facility) (since 1974) supplemented the reserve and credit shares. It is designed to provide loans for longer periods and in larger amounts in relation to quotas than under normal loan 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 fixed intervals - once every six months, quarterly or (in some cases) monthly. The main purpose of stand-by 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 rigidity increases as you move from one credit share to another. Certain conditions must be met before obtaining a loan. The obligations of the borrowing country, which provide for the implementation of appropriate financial and economic measures, are recorded in the "Letter of intent" (Letter of intent) or Memorandum of Economic and Financial Policies sent to the IMF. The course of fulfillment of obligations by the country - the recipient of the loan is monitored by periodically evaluating the special target performance criteria provided for by the agreement. These criteria can be either quantitative, referring to certain macroeconomic indicators, or structural, reflecting institutional changes. If the IMF considers that a country uses a loan in contradiction with the goals of the Fund, does not fulfill its obligations, it may limit its lending, refuse to provide the next tranche. Thus, this mechanism allows the IMF to exert economic pressure on borrowing countries.

It should be borne in mind that votes in making decisions on the Fund's actions are distributed in proportion to contributions. To approve the Fund's decisions, 85% of the votes are required. The US has about 17% of all votes. This is not enough for independent decision-making, but allows you to block any decision of the Foundation. The US Senate may pass a bill that would prohibit the International Monetary Fund from doing certain things, such as making loans to countries. As the Chinese economist Professor Shi Jianxun points out, the redistribution of quotas does not at all change the basic framework of the organization and the balance of power in it, the US share remains the same, they have the right to veto: "The United States, as before, leads the order of the IMF" .

The IMF provides loans with a number of requirements - freedom of movement of capital, privatization (including natural monopolies - rail transport and utilities), minimization or even elimination of government spending on social programs - education, health care, cheaper housing, public transport, etc. P.; refusal to protect the environment; reduction of salaries, restriction of the rights of workers; increased tax pressure on the poor, etc. [ ]

According to Michel Chosudovsky, [ ]

IMF-sponsored programs since then have consistently continued to destroy the industrial sector and have gradually dismantled the Yugoslav welfare state. The restructuring agreements increased the external debt and provided the mandate for the devaluation of the Yugoslav currency, which hit hard on Yugoslav living standards. This initial round of restructuring laid the foundations for it. During the 1980s, the IMF periodically prescribed further doses of its bitter "economic therapy" while the Yugoslav economy slowly slipped into a coma. Industrial production fell by 10%

The International Monetary Fund (IMF), (International Monetary Fund, IMF) is an intergovernmental organization designed to regulate monetary and credit relations between states and provide financial assistance to member countries to eliminate currency difficulties caused by imbalances in the balance of payments. The IMF was established at the International Monetary and Financial Conference (July 1-22, 1944) in Bretton Woods (USA, New Hampshire). The Foundation began its practical activities on March 1, 1947.

The USSR also took part in the work of the Bretton Woods Conference. However, later, in connection with the "cold war" between East and West, he did not ratify the Agreement on the formation of the IMF. For the same reason, during 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).

There are currently 182 member states of the IMF (see Chart 4). Any country pursuing an independent foreign policy and ready to accept the rights and obligations stipulated by the IMF Charter can become a member of the organization.

The official objectives of the IMF are:

• promote the balanced growth of international trade;
• maintain the stability of exchange rates;
• contribute to the creation of a multilateral system of settlements for current transactions between members of the Fund and the elimination of foreign exchange restrictions that hinder the growth of international trade;
• provide member countries with credit resources to regulate the imbalance of temporary payments without the use of restrictive measures in the field of foreign trade and settlements;
• serve as a forum for consultation and cooperation in the field of international monetary issues.

Responsible for the smooth operation of the global monetary and payment system, the Fund pays special attention to the state of liquidity on a global scale, i.e. the level and composition of reserves held by Member States 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 allocation of special drawing rights (SDRs). SDR (or SDR) is an international currency unit used as a conditional scale for measuring international claims and obligations, establishing currency parity and exchange rate, as an international means of payment and reserve. The value of the SDR is determined on the basis of the average value of the five major currencies of the world (before January 1, 1981 - sixteen currencies). The determination of the share of each currency is made taking into account the country's share in international trade, but for the US dollar, its share in international settlements is taken into account. So far, 21.4 billion SDRs have been issued with a total value of about $29 billion, which is about 2% of all reserves.

The Fund has significant general resources to finance temporary imbalances in the balance of payments of its members. To use them, a member must provide the Fund with a strong justification for the need that has arisen, 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 goals of member countries. The Fund's policy enables them to use IMF financing at an early stage of balance of payments problems.

At the same time, the Fund's assistance contributes to overcoming imbalances in payments without the application of trade and payment restrictions. The Fund plays the role of a catalyst, as changes in government policies in the implementation of 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 of them 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 finance ministers or central bankers or other persons of the same official position. The Board of Governors elects a chairman from among its members. The competence of the council includes the resolution of the most important, fundamental issues of the IMF's activities, such as the admission and expulsion 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 activities of the Fund, but they may vote at any time by mail.

The IMF is organized as a joint-stock company, and therefore the ability of each participant to influence its activities is determined by the share in the capital. In accordance with this, the IMF operates the principle of the so-called "weighted" number of votes: each member state has 250 "basic" votes (regardless of the contribution to the Fund's capital) and an additional one vote for every 100,000 SDR units of its share in this capital. In addition, when voting on certain issues, the creditor countries receive an additional one vote for every $400,000 of loans provided by them on the voting day, due to a corresponding reduction in the number of votes of the debtor countries. This arrangement leaves the decisive word in the management of the affairs of the IMF to the countries that have invested the largest funds in it.

Decisions in the Board of Governors of the IMF are generally taken by a simple majority (at least half) of the votes, and on the most important issues (for example, amending the Charter, establishing and revising the size of the shares of member countries in the capital, a number of issues of the functioning of the SDR mechanism, policies in the field of exchange rates, etc.) by "special (qualified) majority", currently providing for two categories: 70% and 85% of the total votes of member countries.

The current Charter of the IMF provides that the Board of Governors may decide to establish a new permanent governing body - the Council at the ministerial level of member countries to oversee the regulation and adaptation of the world monetary system. But it has not yet been established, 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 Foundation's business and operates from its Washington headquarters.

3. The IMF Executive Board appoints a Managing Director who heads the Fund's administrative apparatus and is in charge of day-to-day affairs. Traditionally, the managing director must be European or (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 from industrialized and developing countries. It develops recommendations for a wider use of statistical data in the compilation of balance of payments, coordinates the conduct of a basic statistical survey of portfolio investment, and carries out studies on the registration of flows associated with derivative funds.

Capital. The capital of the IMF is made up of subscription contributions from member countries. Each country has a quota expressed in SDRs. A member's quota is the most important element of its financial and organizational relationship with the Fund. 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 the IMF member to the financial resources of the organization in accordance with the established limits. Third, the quota determines the share of the IMF member in the allocation of SDRs. The Charter does not provide methods for determining IMF membership quotas. At the same time, from the very beginning, the size of quotas was linked, 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" that serve as a general measure of the relative position of IMF members in the global economy. These formulas use economic data on a government's gross domestic product (GDP), current operations, fluctuations in current receipts, and government reserves.

The United States, as the country with the highest economic performance, made the largest contribution to the IMF, accounting for about 18% of the total quotas (about $35 billion); Palau, which joined the IMF in December 1997, has the smallest quota and contributed about $3.8 million.

Prior to 1978, 25% of the quota was paid in gold, currently in reserve assets (SDRs or freely usable currencies); 75% of the subscription amount - 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 has the ability to use borrowed funds in any currency and from any source, i.e. borrow them both from official bodies and in the private market for 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.

Lending activities of the IMF. Financial operations of the IMF are carried out only with the official bodies of member countries - treasuries, central banks, foreign exchange stabilization funds. The Fund's resources can be made available to its members through a variety of approaches and mechanisms, differing mainly in terms of the types of problems of financing the balance of payments deficit, as well as the level of conditionality put forward by the IMF. Moreover, these conditions are a composite criterion that includes three separate elements: the state of the balance of payments, the balance of international reserves and the dynamics of the reserve position of countries. These three elements, which determine the need for balance of payments financing, are considered independent, and each of them can serve as the basis for submitting a request for funding to the Fund.

A country in need of a foreign currency purchases a freely usable currency or SDR in exchange for an equivalent amount of its national currency, which is credited to the IMF account at the country's central bank.

The IMF charges borrowing countries a one-time fee of 0.5% of the transaction amount and a certain fee, or interest rate, for the loans they provide, which is based on market rates.

After the expiration of the specified period, the member country is obliged to perform the reverse operation - to redeem its national currency from the Fund, returning to it the borrowed funds. Usually this operation, which in practice means the repayment of the 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 redeem 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 bought by another member state.

Member countries' access to IMF credit resources is limited by some nuances. According to the original Charter, they were as follows: first, 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 the country's currency in the assets of the IMF could not exceed 200% of the value of its quota (including 75% of the quota contributed to the Fund by subscription). In the 1978 revised Charter, the first limitation was removed. This allowed member countries to use their IMF foreign exchange opportunities in a shorter period than the five years previously required. As for the second condition, in exceptional circumstances its operation may also be suspended.

Technical assistance. The International Monetary Fund also provides technical assistance to member countries. It is carried out through sending missions to the central banks, ministries of finance and statistical authorities of countries that have requested such assistance, sending experts to these authorities 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, foreign exchange policy and banking supervision, statistics, development of financial and economic legislation and training.