International Monetary Fund

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is an international financial organization made up of 190 member countries. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the IMF works to foster global monetary cooperation, secure financial stability, facilitate fair international trade, promote high employment and sustainable economic growth, and reduce poverty around the world. The IMF is both accountable to and governed by its near-global membership of 190 countries. The Board of Governors is the highest decision-making body of the IMF. It consists of one governor and one alternate governor from each member country. The governor is appointed by the member country and is usually the minister of finance or the head of the central bank. The Managing Director is the head of the IMF staff and Chair of the 24-member Executive Board, which oversees the day-to-day work of the IMF. The Managing Director is the head of the IMF staff and Chair of the Executive Board and is assisted by four Deputy Managing Directors. The primary functions of the IMF are lending, economic condition surveillance, and technical assistance to member countries.