Pressures to adjust balance of payments disequilibria: an analysis of the powers of the International Monetary Fund

1976 ◽  
Vol 30 (3) ◽  
pp. 433-452 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frieder Roessler
Keyword(s):  
International Monetary Fund ◽  
Balance Of Payments ◽  
Executive Directors ◽  
Financial Pressure ◽  
New Instruments ◽  
The International Monetary Fund

In view of recent proposals to grant the International Monetary Fund new instruments to press countries to adjust balance of payments disequilibria, the question arises of the efficacy of such means of pressure. An analysis of the Fund's power shows, inter alia, that conditions attached to currency purchases by deficit countries can only influence the techniques of adjustment but not the length of the adjustment period, that it is normally not possible for the Fund to expose individual surplus countries to inflationary or expansionary pressures, that the scarce currency clause is unworkable in present monetary conditions, and that the Fund's system of charges and remunerations cannot be used to exert financial pressure on countries in imbalance. The general avoidance of sanctions by the Fund's Executive Directors suggests that it would only be useful to make additional pressures available to the Fund, as contemplated by the Committee of Twenty, if the authority to take decisions on sanctions were transferred to a separate judicial or quasi-judicial body.

International Monetary Fund

1963 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 500-504 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Saudi Arabia ◽  
Annual Meeting ◽  
International Monetary Fund ◽  
Current Account ◽  
Balance Of Payments ◽  
Executive Directors ◽  
Board Of Governors ◽  
The International Monetary Fund ◽  
Opening Address ◽  
The Current Account

The seventeenth annual meeting of the Board of Governors of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) was held in Washington, D.C., from September 17 through September 21, 1962, under the chairmanship of Mr. Ahmed Zaki Saad, Governor for Saudi Arabia. In his opening address, Mr. Per Jacobsson, Managing Director of IMF, commented on the relation of the Fund's assistance to capital transactions. He remarked that although the Fund's resources had been used in situations involving capital transfers, there had been some uncertainty as to the extent to which, or the circumstances in which, the Fund's resources could be used for helping to meet those deficits in the balance of payments of members that went beyond the current account and were attributable in whole or in part to capital transfers. By a decision of July 1961 the Executive Directors were able to eliminate any doubt which had not already been dissipated by the practice of the Fund that the Fund's resources could be used to alleviate pressures brought about by capital transfers, in accordance with the criteria of Article VI and other relevant provisions of the Fund Agreement. Thus, if a country facing a disequilibrating outflow of capital were to turn to the Fund for assistance, one of the criteria which the Fund would apply would be to satisfy itself that the appropriate measures were being taken to overcome the balance of payments difficulties, and that the assistance provided by the Fund would be repaid at the earliest opportunity, and in any event not later than three to five years after the drawing.

International Monetary Fund

1956 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 203-206
Keyword(s):  
International Monetary Fund ◽  
Balance Of Payments ◽  
Equal Treatment ◽  
Fiscal Year ◽  
Executive Directors ◽  
Industrial Countries ◽  
Board Of Governors ◽  
Import Restrictions ◽  
Different Sources ◽  
The International Monetary Fund

The Annual Report of the Executive Directors of the International Monetary Fund for the fiscal year ended April 30, 1955 was transmitted to the Chairman of the Board of Governors on July 1, 1955. The report noted that during the period under review the trend of the previous fiscal year toward the relaxation of restrictions imposed for balance of payments reasons on imports, on currency transfers, and on dealings in foreign exchange had continued, resulting in a considerable improvement in international financial relations. The European industrial countries, in particular, because of a continuance of favorable payments balances had been able to reduce their use of restrictions, and in a few cases practically eliminate them. It was pointed out in the report that even the European countries which had experienced minor setbacks in their balance of payments in 1954 and 1955 had not increased their import restrictions. The report stated that the point had probably been reached at which obstacles to any further removal of import restrictions in Europe were due as much to a wish for protecting individual industries as to payments difficulties. In countries outside Europe, the relaxation of import restrictions was an important factor in the expansion of imports in many primary producing countries in 1954. However, because of the weakening of their reserves, several primary producing countries, especially Australia and Thailand, had to increase their import restrictions in the latter part of 1954. In addition to the reduction in the use of such restrictions, the tendency toward giving more equal treatment to imports from different sources or paid for in different currencies was noted in the report as another encouraging factor in the international financial situation.

scholarly journals Weighted voting on the IMF Managing Director

2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (3) ◽  
pp. 237-244
Author(s):  
Alexander Mayer ◽  
Stefan Napel
Keyword(s):  
International Monetary Fund ◽  
Executive Director ◽  
A Priori ◽  
Plurality Rule ◽  
Executive Directors ◽  
Voting Rules ◽  
Weighted Voting ◽  
To Come ◽  
A Priori Distribution ◽  
The International Monetary Fund

Abstract Executive Directors of the International Monetary Fund elect the Fund’s Managing Director from a shortlist of three candidates; financial quotas of IMF members define the respective numbers of votes. The implied a priori distribution of success (preference satisfaction) is compared across different electoral procedures. The USA’s Executive Director can expect to come closer to its top preference under plurality rule than for pairwise majority comparisons or plurality with a runoff; opposite applies to everybody else. Differences of US success between voting rules dominate the within-rule differences between most other Directors, and much of the latest reform of quotas.

Borrowing Agreement with Slovak Republic

Policy Papers ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 2010 (10) ◽  
Author(s):  
Keyword(s):  
International Monetary Fund ◽  
Slovak Republic ◽  
Balance Of Payments ◽  
Financial Resources ◽  
Policy Paper ◽  
The International Monetary Fund

In light of the multilateral effort to ensure the adequacy of the financial resources available to the International Monetary Fund, and with a view to supporting the Fund's ability to provide timely and effective balance of payments assistance to its members, the Slovak Republic agrees to lend to the Fund an SDR-denominated amount up to the equivalent of EUR 440 million, on the terms and conditions set in this policy paper.

Implementation of the Joint Management Action Plan on Bank-Fund Collaboration

Policy Papers ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 2010 (16) ◽  
Author(s):  
Keyword(s):  
International Monetary Fund ◽  
Action Plan ◽  
Balance Of Payments ◽  
Financial Resources ◽  
Joint Management ◽  
The International Monetary Fund

In light of the multilateral effort to ensure the adequacy of the financial resources available to the International Monetary Fund (the “Fund”), and with a view to supporting the Fund’s ability to provide timely and effective balance of payments assistance to its members, the Swedish Riksbank (“Riksbank”) agrees to lend to the Fund an SDRdenominated amount up to the equivalent of EUR 2.47 billion, on the terms and conditions set out in this paper.

Borrowing Agreement with the Bank of Slovenia

Policy Papers ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 2010 (101) ◽  
Author(s):  
Keyword(s):  
International Monetary Fund ◽  
Balance Of Payments ◽  
Financial Resources ◽  
The International Monetary Fund

In light of the multilateral effort to ensure the adequacy of the financial resources available to the International Monetary Fund (the “Fund”), and with a view to supporting the Fund’s ability to provide timely and effective balance of payments assistance to its members, the Bank of Slovenia agrees to lend to the Fund an SDR-denominated amount up to the equivalent of EUR 280 million, on the terms and conditions set out in this paper.

Borrowing Agreement with the Government of the United Kingdom

Policy Papers ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 09 ◽  
Author(s):  
Keyword(s):  
United Kingdom ◽  
International Monetary Fund ◽  
Balance Of Payments ◽  
Financial Resources ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
The Government ◽  
The International Monetary Fund

In light of the multilateral effort to ensure the adequacy of the financial resources available to the International Monetary Fund, and with a view to supporting the Fund’s ability to provide timely and effective balance of payments assistance to its members, the Government of the United Kingdom, acting through Her Majesty's Treasury, agrees to lend to the Fund up to the equivalent of SDR 9.92 billion.

Borrowing Agreement Between Deutsche Bundesbank and the International Monetary Fund

Policy Papers ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 09 ◽  
Author(s):  
Keyword(s):  
International Monetary Fund ◽  
Balance Of Payments ◽  
Financial Resources ◽  
Deutsche Bundesbank ◽  
The International Monetary Fund

In light of the multilateral effort to ensure the adequacy of the financial resources available to the International Monetary Fund, and with a view to supporting the Fund’s ability to provide timely and effective balance of payments assistance to its members, Deutsche Bundesbank agrees to lend to the Fund an SDR-denominated amount up to the equivalent of EUR 15 billion.

Borrowing Agreement with the Government of France

Policy Papers ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 09 ◽  
Author(s):  
Keyword(s):  
International Monetary Fund ◽  
Balance Of Payments ◽  
Financial Resources ◽  
The Government ◽  
The International Monetary Fund

In light of the multilateral effort to ensure the adequacy of the financial resources available to the International Monetary Fund , and with a view to supporting the Fund’s ability to provide timely and effective balance of payments assistance to its members, France agrees to lend to the Fund an SDR-denominated amount up to the equivalent of EUR 11.06 billion, on the terms and conditions set out in this report.

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