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IMF (International Monetary Fund) – The Global Firefighter! 🚒

Established: 1944 (Bretton Woods Conference). HQ: Washington D.C. Members: 190 Countries.

The Analogy: Think of IMF as a Credit Cooperative Society.

  • All countries deposit money (Quota).
  • If any country faces a crisis (runs out of dollars), it can borrow from the pool.

Objectives 🎯

  1. Global Monetary Cooperation: A forum for countries to talk about money.
  2. Exchange Rate Stability: Prevent countries from manipulating their currency to cheat others.
  3. Balance of Payments Support: This is the MAIN job. If a country cannot pay for imports (like Sri Lanka or Pakistan recently), IMF gives a loan to save them.

Key Functions 🛠️

1. Surveillance"Monitoring global economy (Like a Doctor checkup)."
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2. Financial Assistance"Lending to countries in BOP crisis."
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3. Technical Assistance"Training officials on how to run an economy."
SDR (Special Drawing Rights)

IMF has its own currency called SDR (Paper Gold). It is not a real note. It is a basket of 5 currencies (Dollar, Euro, Yuan, Yen, Pound). Countries use SDR to pay each other.

Quiz Time! 🎯

Test Your Knowledge

Question 1 of 5

1. IMF was established in:

1944
1991
2000
1850

💡 Final Wisdom: "IMF is the lender of last resort. When nobody else will lend you money because your economy is broken, the IMF steps in. But it comes with strict conditions!" 📝

Next up: World Bank (IBRD) - The Builder! 🏗️

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