Imf governance and organization
The IMF is accountable to the governments of its member countries. At
the apex of its organizational structure is its Board of Governors, which
consists of one Governor from each of the IMF's 185 member
countries. All Governors meet once each year at the IMF-World Bank
Annual Meetings. Twenty-four of the Governors sit on the
International Monetary and Finance Committee (IMFC) and meet twice
each year. The day-to-day work of the IMF is conducted at its
Washington DC headquarters by its 24-member Executive Board ; this
work is guided by the IMFC and supported by the IMF's professional
staff. The Managing Director is Head of IMF staff and Chairman of the
Executive Board, and is assisted by three Deputy Managing Directors.
The IMF's resources are provided by its member countries, primarily
through payment of quotas, which broadly reflect each country's
economic size. The total amount of quotas is the most important factor
determining the IMF's lending capacity. The annual expenses of
running the Fund have been met mainly by the difference between
interest receipts (on outstanding loans) and interest payments (on
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quotas used to finance the loans "reserve positions"), but the
membership recently agreed to adopt a new income model with a range
of revenue sources more suited to the diverse activities of the Fund.
More detailed information can be found on the IMF's website:
http://www.imf.org/.
Imf surveillance flow chart
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TASKS
Task 1. Transcribe:
Diverse, concessional, exogenous, contribute, occur, conceive,
convene, alleviate, headquarters, surveillance, balance, currency, debt
relief, receipt, committee, deputy, New Hampshire.
Task 2. Provide definitions of these terms:
devaluation
surveillance
fiscal policy
the Great Depression
Task 3. Translate into English using the text:
1. укреплять мировую экономику
2. быть подотчетным к.-л.
3. стараться построить основание для экономического
сотрудничества
4. обесценивание
5. валютный курс
6. на льготных условиях
7. достаточные меры предосторожности
8. финансовая сделка
9. платежный баланс
10. предотвращать / разрешать кризис
11. снижать уровень бедности
12. тщательная, доскональная экспертиза
13. способствовать стабильности внешнего и внутреннего рынка
14. осуществлять эффективную политику
15. фискальная [налогово-бюджетная] политика
16. опустошать денежные ресурсы
17. облегчение долга, скидка с долга
18. сотрудничество
19. во главе (структуры организации)
20. доход от процентов (по непогашенным долгам)
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Provide the context of these phrases.
Task 4. Provide words from the text which mean:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
to direct and control the actions
to originate
to gather, call together, esp for a formal meeting
supervision
freely , willingly
to make (pain, sorrow, etc.) easier to bear; lessen; relieve
a vision of the future; what is foreseen; expectation
favourable
to show preference (for)
to carry out; put into action; perform
having an external origin
to support from beneath
the gross income from a business enterprise, investment,
property, etc.; a particular item of income
Make up your own sentences with vocabulary of ex. 3,4.
Task 5. Are the following statements true or false?
1. The IMF was created to facilitate international monetary
cooperation.
2. The Fund is not accountable to any government.
3. Unlike the WTO, the IMF has nothing to do with trade between
countries.
4. Though the IMF tries to prevent a crisis, when it does occur the
Fund can do nothing to alleviate its aftermaths.
5. The Fund has two main activities – technical assistance and
lending.
6. After a bilateral surveillance the IMF can give policy advice to
each of its members.
7. The Fund does not have technical capacity to provide annual in-
depth appraisal of each member country's economy.
8. Member countries do not have to pay anything for technical
assistance provided by the Fund.
9. The IMF's technical assistance is offered only in a few
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irrelevant areas.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
In case member countries experience crises, the IMF expels
them from its membership.
Low- and high-income countries receive equal treatment in the
IMF framework.
The IMF collaborates with other international economic
organizations.
The Board of Governors, the International Monetary and
Finance Committee, the Executive Board, the Managing
Director are all elements of the IMF's organizational structure.
The IMF's resources are provided through payment of quotas by
its member countries.
Task 6. Translate the names of the following branches of IMF's
activities into Russian. Refer to Internet dictionaries. The latter
failing, try your own hand at giving proper translations for these
names:
International Monetary Fund
Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility
Exogenous Shocks Facility
Heavily Indebted Poor Countries
Multilateral Debt Relief Initiative
Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers
Task 7. Using active vocabulary prepare a speech as the President
addressing his country at the time of the slump. Try to reassure your
compatriots that you are in control.
Task 8. What have you learned about the International Monetary
Fund?
Task 9. Make a short report about one branch of the IMF's activity:
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special drawing rights (SDR)
international monetary system
stand-by agreement
Jamaica Agreement
Bretton Woods System
Bretton Woods Agreement
Rio Agreement
General Arrangements to Borrow
Group of Ten
National Advisory Council on International Monetary and
Financial Policies
Enlarged Access Policy
Balance of Payments Manual
Task 10. Prepare two multiple-choice questions on your report.
For instance, The Group of Ten is otherwise called:
a) London Club
b) Tokyo Club
c) Paris Club
d) Chelny Club
or, The term 'stand-by agreement' is best of all rendered into Russian
as:
a) дополнительное соглашение
b) резервное соглашение
c) стабильная договоренность
d) обещание хранить тайну
Biographical Information
DOMINIQUE STRAUSS-KAHN
Managing Director, IMF
Dominique Strauss-Kahn assumed office as the tenth
Managing Director of the International Monetary
Fund on November 1, 2007. Upon being selected by
the IMF's Board of Executive Directors, Mr.
Strauss-Kahn indicated that he will press ahead with
reform of the 186-member country institution that
helps oversee the global economy.
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Prior to taking up his position at the IMF, Mr. Strauss-Kahn was a
member of the French National Assembly and Professor of Economics
at the Institut d'Etudes Politiques de Paris. From 2001 to 2007, he was
reelected three times to the National Assembly, and in 2006, he ran for
the Socialist Party's nomination for the French presidential election. In
2000 and 2001, he taught economics at the Institut d'Etudes Politiques
de Paris and was named visiting professor at Stanford University. He
was also a personal advisor to the Secretary General of the OECD.
Earlier, Mr. Strauss-Kahn served as Minister of Economy, Finance and
Industry of France from June 1997 to November 1999. In this capacity,
he managed the launch of the Euro. He also represented France on the
Board of Governors of a number of international financial institutions,
including the IMF.
Between 1993 and 1997, he was in the private sector as a corporate
lawyer. From 1991 to 1993, Mr. Strauss-Kahn served as Minister of
Industry and International Trade, during which time he participated in
the Uruguay Round of trade negotiations.
Mr. Strauss-Kahn began his career as assistant professor, then
professor of economics at the University of Paris where he was tenured
in 1978. He was then appointed Deputy Commissioner of the
Economic Planning Agency (1981-1986). He was elected Deputy
(Member of Parliament) to the National Assembly (1986), where he
chaired the Finance Commission from 1988 to 1991.
Mr. Strauss-Kahn holds a PhD in economics from the University of
Paris. He also graduated in law, in business administration, in political
studies, and in statistics. As an academic, his research fields include
household saving behavior, public finance, and social policy.
A French national, Mr. Strauss-Kahn was born in Neuilly-sur-Seine,
France, on April 25, 1949 and spent his early years in Morocco.
TASKS
Task 1. Read this biography and write out new words – focus on
pronunciation and translation. Make up three sentences to practise
new vocabulary.
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Task 2. Draw a flow chart of Mr. Dominique Strauss-Kahn's
professional career.
Task 3. Now answer these questions:
Does the information given in the article help you to understand
what made IMF's Managing Director a successful official?
In what way would you like your career to be similar to Mr.
Strauss-Kahn's?
Task 4. Speak about a successful businessman, economist, chief
executive officer (CEO), managing director or a similar person
whose life you admire. You may make use of the information at
www.imf.org (About the IMF > Who we are > Senior officials).
Rendering Activity