About the IMF

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is an organization of 188 countries, working to foster global monetary cooperation, secure financial stability, facilitate international trade, promote high employment and sustainable economic growth, and reduce poverty around the world.

What the IMF Does

The work of the IMF is of three main types. Surveillance involves the monitoring of economic and financial developments, and the provision of policy advice, aimed especially at crisis-prevention. The IMF also lends to countries with balance of payments difficulties, to provide temporary financing and to support policies aimed at correcting the underlying problems; loans to low-income countries are also aimed especially at poverty reduction. Third, the IMF provides countries with technical assistance and training in its areas of expertise. Supporting all three of these activities is IMF work in economic research and statistics. In recent years, as part of its efforts to strengthen the international financial system, and to enhance its effectiveness at preventing and resolving crises, the IMF has applied both its surveillance and technical assistance work to the development of standards and codes of good practice in its areas of responsibility, and to the strengthening of financial sectors. The IMF also plays an important role in the fight against money-laundering and terrorism.

Definition of 'International Monetary Fund - IMF'

An international organization created for the purpose of: 1. Promoting global monetary and exchange stability. 2. Facilitating the expansion and balanced growth of international trade. 3. Assisting in the establishment of a multilateral system of payments for current transactions.

Investopedia explains 'International Monetary Fund - IMF'

The IMF plays three major roles in the global monetary system. The Fund surveys and monitors economic and financial developments, lends funds to countries with balance-of-payment difficulties, and provides technical assistance and training for countries requesting it.
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The purposes of the IMF are the following:

1. to promote international monetary cooperation; 2. to facilitate the expansion and balanced growth of international trade and contribute thereby to the promotion and maintenance of high levels of employment and real income; 3. to promote exchange stability, maintain orderly exchange arrangements among member states, and avoid competitive currency depreciations; 4. to assist in establishing a multilateral system of payments of current transactions among members and in eliminating foreign-exchange restrictions that hamper world trade; and 5. to alleviate serious disequilibrium in the international balance of payments of members by making the resources of the Fund available under adequate safeguards, so as to prevent the members from resorting to measures that endanger national or international prosperity.

Read more: http://www.nationsencyclopedia.com/United-NationsRelated-Agencies/The-International-Monetary-Fund-IMFPURPOSES.html#b#ixzz2DLk3LZ5s What are the Objectives of IMF?

SOUMYA SINGH IMF seeks to achieve the following objectives: (I) To promote international monetary cooperation. (ii) To facilitate the expansion of international trade. (iii) To ensure stability to foreign exchange rates. (iv) To reduce disequilibrium in the international balance of payments of member countries. (v) To promote capital investment in backward and underdevelopment countries. (vi) To assist in the establishment of a multinational system of payments in respect of current transactions between the member countries. (vii) To secure multilateral convertibility (i.e., to convert the currency of any member into the currency of any other member). (viii) To provide short term monetary help to members during emergency.

(ix) To achieve balanced economic growth and high level of employment in member coun-tries.

What are the Functions of IMF?

SOUMYA SINGH

IMF performs the following functions.

(i) Providing short terms credit to member countries for meeting temporary difficulties due to adverse balance of payments. (ii) Reconciling conflicting claims of member countries. (iii) Providing a reservoir of currencies of member-countries and enabling members to bor-row on another's currency. (iv) Promoting orderly adjustment of exchange rates. (v) Advising member countries on economic, monetary and technical matters.

Resources
IMF is a pool of central bank reserves and national currencies that are available to member countries under specified conditions. The capital of the IMF consists of the aggregate of the quotas allotted to the member countries member can pay its quota in its national currency. The IMF utilizes its gold holdings to acquire dollars and other currencies for its opera-tions.

Operations:
The IMF has shown great interest in the economic development of under development countries. It has made a steady progress towards the establishment of a multilateral system of payment in respect of current transactions. It has simplified the multiple exchange system. The IMF has promoted exchange rate stability and expansion of world trade. It has provided an excellent forum for the discussion and solution of economic, fiscal and financial problems having an international impact. The IMF has granted undue credit to some countries. Its insistence on devaluation in some cases proved ill advised. It has followed a week policy in the fixation of exchange rate. It has been charged as being partial to developed countries and not helping adequately the under developed countries.

Asian Development Bank (ADB)

The ADB was established by Asian countries to foster the economic growth and coopera-tion in the region of Asia and the Far East, including the South Pacific. Asia has about 30 per cent of world population. But the pace of development is slow and inadequate to support the popula-tion. There was need for institution to mobilise additional resources and to attract investment from outside the region. ADB was set up to meet this need. It started functioning on December 19, 1996.

Objectives
The objectives of the ADB are as under: (i) To promote economic cooperation and growth in Asia and the Far East. (ii) To encourage member countries to work both collectively and individually. (iii) To promote economic growth of member countries by reducing poverty. (iv) To provide technical assistance in the planning and execution of projects of member countries. (v) To support human development activities such as education, health, nutrition, popula-tion planning, etc. (vi) To provide support for policy reforms in order to create more opportunities for the poor.

Definition of 'The World Bank'

An international organization dedicated to providing financing, advice and research to developing nations to aid their economic advancement. Read more: http://www.investopedia.com/terms/w/worldbank.asp#ixzz2DOIOwmq 4

Investopedia explains 'The World Bank'

The World Bank was created at the end of World War II as a result of many European and Asian countries needing financing to fund reconstruction efforts. Created out of the Bretton Woods agreement of 1944, the Bank was successful in providing financing for these devastated countries. Today, the Bank functions as an international organization that attempts to fight poverty by offering developmental assistance to middle and poorincome countries. By giving loans, and offering advice and training in both the private and public sectors, the World Bank aims to eliminate poverty by helping people help themselves.

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What are the Functions of World Bank?

SOUMYA SINGH

World Bank performs the following functions:

(i) Granting reconstruction loans to war devastated countries. (ii) Granting developmental loans to underdeveloped countries. (iii) Providing loans to governments for agriculture, irrigation, power, transport, water supply, educations, health, etc (iv) Providing loans to private concerns for specified projects. (v) Promoting foreign investment by guaranteeing loans provided by other organisations. (vi) Providing technical, economic and monetary advice to member countries for specific projects (vii) Encouraging industrial development of underdeveloped countries by promoting eco-nomic reforms.

Resources
The World Bank had initially authorised capital of $10 billion subscribed by the member countries in accordance with their economic strength. The United States of America is the largest subscriber. The Bank collects funds from members as well as by issue of international bonds.

What are the objectives of World Bank?

APARIJITA SINHA Some of the most important objectives of world bank are given below : Objectives of World Bank The World Bank was established to promote long-term foreign investment loans on reasonable terms. The, purposes of the Bank, as set forth in the 'Articles of Agreement are as follows: (i) To assist in the reconstruction and development of territories of members by facilitating the invest-ment of capital for productive purpose including; (a) the restoration of economies destroyed or disrupted by war;

(b) the reconversion of productive facilities to peaceful needs; and (c) the encouragement of the development of productive facilities and resources in less developing countries; (ii) To promote private investment by means of guarantee or participation in loans and other investments made by private investors. (iii) When private capital is not available on reasonable terms, to supplement private investment by providing on suitable conditions finance for productive purpose out of its own capital funds raised by it and its other resources. (iv) To promote the long-range balanced growth of international trade and the maintenance of equilibrium in balances of payments by encouraging international investment for the development of the produc-tive resources of members, thereby assisting in raising productivity, the standard of living, and conditions of labour in their territories. (v) To arrange the loans made or guaranteed by it in relation to international loans through other channels so that the more useful and urgent projects, large and small alike, will be dealt with first. (vi) To conduct its operations with due regard to the effect of international investment on business conditions in the territories of members and in the immediate postwar years, to assist in bringing about a smooth transition from a wartime to peacetime economy.