International Monetary Fund (IMF)

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is based in Washington, D.C. and consists of 189 member countries, which is an international organization that aims to promote global economic growth and financial stability, to encourage international trade, and to reduce poverty.

• The IMF's primary methods for achieving these goals are monitoring, capacity building, and lending.
• The IMF was originally created in 1945 as part of the Bretton Woods agreement, which attempted to encourage international financial cooperation by introducing a system of convertible currencies at fixed exchange rates, with the dollar redeemable for gold at $35 per ounce.
• Earlier, The IMF also acted as a gatekeeper: countries were not eligible for membership in the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) – a World Bank forerunner that the Bretton Woods agreement created in order to fund the reconstruction of Europe after World War II – unless they were members of the IMF.
• Since the Bretton Woods system collapsed in the 1970s, the IMF has promoted the system of floating exchange rates, meaning that market forces determine the value of currencies relative to one another. This system continues to be in place today.