An institution founded in 1945 and headquartered in Washington (DC., USA). – Its (main) statutory tasks are – to promote monetary cooperation and exchange rate stability, – to ease and abolish exchange controls, – to intensify the global exchange of goods, – thereby to achieve economic growth and poverty reduction (main purpose is working to foster global monetary cooperation, secure financial stability, facilitate international trade, promote high employment and sustainable economic growth, and reduce poverty). – It must not be the IMF’s task to be an insurer against global financial market risks (“lender of last resort”). Nor is it compatible with the IMF’s statutes to grant loans to recapitalize banks or finance budget deficits, although this has been repeatedly called for by politicians. Similarly, IMF guarantees for government securities are prohibited. In each of these cases, such IMF activities triggered moral hazard problems. – Contrary to widespread belief, until the end of 2010, the IMF was able to resolve almost eighty percent of all crises through liquidity assistance alone: the IMF provided repayable funds to the distressed country for a certain period of time. It was not until the Greek crisis that the IMF became a global fire department, abandoning the strict conditionality that had prevailed until then. – See bail-out, European Monetary Fund, conditionality, risk enhancement, subjective. – On the problems at the IMF, see Deutsche Bundesbank Monthly Report of September 2005, pp. 77 ff. (Financial risks at the IMF, pp. 81 f.: Problem of arrears to the IMF, pp. 86 ff: Overview of risk control instruments at the IMF), Deutsche Bundesbank Annual Report 2005, pp. 80 ff. (Deutsche Bundesbank Annual Report 2006, pp. 72 ff. (reform steps; discussion of the insurance facility), ECB Annual Report 2007, pp, 183 ff. (IMF’s ongoing work: cautiously optimistic assessment), ECB Monthly Report of March 2010, pp. 53 ff. (detailed explanations, especially also on IMF financing; overviews), Deutsche Bundesbank Annual Report 2011, pp. 83 f. (IMF operations 2009-2011).
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University Professor Dr. Gerhard Merk, Dipl.rer.pol., Dipl.rer.oec.
Professor Dr. Eckehard Krah, Dipl.rer.pol.
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https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerhard_Ernst_Merk
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