Iran and the International Monetary Fund

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Iran and the International Monetary Fund have been in partnership since 1945. Iran has gone to the IMF on only two occasions, both before the 1979 revolution of Iran.

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History of Iran and the IMF

The state of Iran joined the IMF on 29 December 1945. [1] There have been two occasions during which Iran used IMF funding. The first stand-by arrangement occurred on 18 May 1956 where the IMF approved a 17.50 special drawing rights (SDR) million loan package. Iran used the entirety of the offered loan. The second stand-by arrangement the IMF approved of for Iran occurred on October 10, 1960. The amount approved was 35 SDR million; however Iran chose to draw only 22.50 SDR million of the available loan. Iran has no outstanding loans or purchases with the IMF.

Iran and the IMF present day

As of 2019, Iran's SDR is 1549.18 million and its remaining callable capital brings Iran to its IMF quota of 3567.1 million SDR. [2] Iran is one of the two largest economies in the Middle East & North Africa (MENA) region, trailing only behind the economy of Saudi Arabia and in population only to Egypt. Due to these socioeconomic factors, Iran has significant power in the IMF in its grouping. Iran holds the executive directorship in its grouping; the other countries in Iran's group are Afghanistan, Algeria, Ghana, Libya, Morocco, Pakistan, and Tunisia. The total voting power (% of total IMF funding) Iran's IMF group is 2.54, where Iran carries the most individual votes having 37,136 votes of the 128,046 votes in its grouping. [3] Although the Islamic Republic of Iran carries the overall vote for its group in the board of directors meeting, its power does not go far in comparison to that of the United States (16.52% of the total fund). The voting bloc of the United States, Japan, UK, France, and Germany along with the other European Union directors makes it nearly impossible for the economic policies of Iran to be implemented in an effective manner.

The IMF in conflict with Iran

Sanctions against Iran have hampered the growth the nation was seeing since the nuclear deal was in place in 2015. Compared to 2017/18, 2018/19's fiscal year has seen a 9.5% drop in gross domestic product and a 37.5% inflation hike due to the restricting economic environment that was created by policies of US President Donald Trump. [4] The tightened economy has led the IMF to recommend through its many policy memos that Iran raise its price of barrels of oil to $194.60. [5] The domestic economy is projected to go from 2019/20 the fiscal year $60.3 billion in goods and services to $55.5 billion in the 2020/21 fiscal year. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries is expected to increase its deficit of 4.5% in 2019/20 to 5.1% in 2020/21 in large part due to the restrictions on Iran's economy. The IMF implements its policies through the use of a conditionality, but since Iran has not used the fund to borrow since 1960, it can only send policy memos. In the 2018 Article IV Consultation Iran, the fund dictates the manners in which the country can fix its economy through restructuring the banks and political infrastructure. The political reforms the IMF recommends will in turn help solve the increasing unemployment of its youth in the country. [6]

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International Monetary Fund International financial institution

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is an international financial institution, headquartered in Washington, D.C., consisting of 190 countries. Its stated mission is "working to foster global monetary cooperation, secure financial stability, facilitate international trade, promote high employment and sustainable economic growth, and reduce poverty around the world." Formed in 1944, started on 27 December 1945, at the Bretton Woods Conference primarily by the ideas of Harry Dexter White and John Maynard Keynes, it came into formal existence in 1945 with 29 member countries and the goal of reconstructing the international monetary system. It now plays a central role in the management of balance of payments difficulties and international financial crises. Countries contribute funds to a pool through a quota system from which countries experiencing balance of payments problems can borrow money. As of 2016, the fund had XDR 477 billion.

In 1945, China cofounded the International Monetary Fund (IMF) with 34 other nations. In April 1980, the People's Republic of China, established a formal relationship with the IMF. The Chinese-IMF relationship mainly operates around affairs associated with IMF governance and the IMF Special Drawing Rights (SDR).

Tanzania is a member of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) with a current quota of US$551.35 million, and is a part of the South Africa and Nigeria led constituency with a totaling voting share of 2.97%. The IMF has been involved in Tanzania's economy since the 1970s. Over the years, there have been roughly three stages of the IMF's involvement in Tanzania: the first round of reform lasted from 1986 to 1995, the second round of reform lasted from 1996 to 2006, and the third round focused mainly on consolidating the reforms made from previous stages.

El Salvador has been a member of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) since 1946. Their quota currently consists of 287.20 million SDR. The country has received loans from the IMF in the past, but most recently has received only standby loans and currently has no outstanding payments. As of June 2017, the standby arrangements total 1,442,300 SDR while the government has only drawn upon 132,250 SDR.

Vietnam joined the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on September 21, 1956, under the policy of Article VIII. Their quota contributes an estimated SDR of 1,153 millions and voting power of 0.24%. As of August 2016, the current IMF Resident Representative to Vietnam is Jonathan Dunn.

Jamaica joined the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in February 1963 under the leadership of The Rt. Hon. Sir Alexander Bustamante, one year after the country's independence. From 1963 to 1966, Rt. Hon. Sir Donald Sangster served as Jamaica's governor to the IMF and World Bank, and represented Jamaica during delegations held at the IMF and World Bank's Washington D.C. headquarters. In 1963, the IMF made its first loan to Jamaica ever, in the amount of 10 million SDR's. In 1967, Sir Donald Sangster was elected as Jamaica's second Prime Minister, simultaneously serving as Minister of Finance and Minister of Defense.

Iceland joined the International Monetary Fund on Dec 27th 1945, becoming one of the IMF's founding members. As a part of the IMF, Iceland has rights in accordance with its contributions, borrowing rights which help facilitate the stability of global financial markets. Iceland's quota is 321.8 million SDR, and its Special Drawing Rights are 112 million. This is a relatively small quota and its vote share comprises only 0.09% of all IMF vote shares, or 4,683 votes to be exact.

Poland and the International Monetary Fund Overview of the relationship between Poland and the International Monetary Fund

Poland was one of the founding members of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in 1945. Under pressure from the Soviet Union, the country withdrew in 1950, believing that the organization had become a tool for the United States. Poland rejoined the IMF in 1986, following the end of martial law in Poland (1981–1983) and the withdrawal of the US veto against Polish membership.

South Korea and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) partner to assist the country in managing its financial system. Korea's economy is considered fundamentally sound because of the balance of their banking sector and their aim toward a zero structural balance without compromising their ability to sustain debt. The IMF Board in 2019 assessed that the policy framework and financial system in place are sturdy and firmly set.

Pakistan and the International Monetary Fund

Pakistan has been a member of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) since 1950. Due to the unpredictable nature of its economy and its dependence on imports, the IMF has provided loans to Pakistan on twenty-two occasions, with its most recent being in 2019.

Belarus and the International Monetary Fund

The Republic of Belarus became a member of the International Monetary Fund on July 10, 1992 and has since taken out a significant amount of loans to stabilize their economy, balance of payments and hyperinflation. Belarus IMF quota is 681.5 millions of special drawing rights (SDR), 0.14% of IMF total. They have 8,280 number of votes, which independently gives them a .16% voting share. Pavel Kallaur currently holds the board of Governor seat. When it comes to voting power Belarus is grouped in the constituency system consisting of Austria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Kosovo, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, and Turkey- together they have 162,344 total votes with 3.23% percent of fund total. Raci Kaya is currently the Board of Governor for the constituency system.

Greece is one of the original members of the International Monetary Fund, joining it on December 27, 1945. It has a quota of 2,428.90 million SDRs and 25,754 votes, 0.51% of the total IMF quota and votes. Greece has been represented on the IMF Board of Governors by Minister of Finance Christos Staikouras since 2019. Greece elects an Executive Director on the fund's Executive Board with Albania, Italy, Malta, Portugal and San Marino. Michail Psalidopoulos is the elected alternate director. Greece has signed two loan agreements with the IMF: a Stand-By Arrangement from 2010 to 2012 and an agreement under the Extended Fund Facility from 2012 to 2016, borrowing a total of 27,766.3 million SDR. Greece owes the IMF 6,735.64 million SDR, and is the fund's third-largest borrower. In 2018, the fund began conducting annual post-program monitoring of Greece in addition to its annual Article IV consultation.

Bosnia and Herzegovina and the International Monetary Fund

Bosnia and Herzegovina declared independence from the state formerly known as Yugoslavia in 1992 and joined the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on December 14, 1992. Bosnia and Herzegovina officially succeeded to the IMF membership of the former Yugoslavia on December 20, 1995, thereby giving the country access to the quota, as well as outstanding loans and payments, on behalf of Yugoslavia. Bosnia and Herzogovina, often synecdochically referred to as Bosnia, currently has an IMF quota of 265.20 million SDR. Bosnia is part of the constituency that contains primarily Eastern European countries but is led by the Netherlands and Belgium. Bosnia controls 4,117 votes of the constituencies 273,058 total votes, and the constituency overall accounts for 5.43% of the IMF's total votes. Since Bosnia joined the IMF in 1992, the country has utilized five borrowing arrangements, four of which were under the Stand-By Arrangements (SBA) and one of which was under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF). The first of the five arrangements was enacted in May 1998 and the most recent was enacted in September 2016. As of September 2019, Bosnia has 126.82 million SDR outstanding loans and/or purchases from the IMF.

Cambodia officially joined the IMF on December 31, 1969. After years of internal and external strife, the Cambodian government is currently focusing its attention to rebuilding and renovating the national economy through grants and loans from multilateral sources like the International Monetary Fund. In March 1994, the International Committee for the Reconstruction of Cambodia (ICORC) developed a comprehensive plan in effort to support Washington Consensus policy prescriptions. These reforms aimed to shift the economy from a socialist state-controlled economy towards a capitalistic market-controlled one. Since then they've had a total of two arrangements addressing fiscal management. Directors approved a loan for SDR 28.0 million in support of Cambodia's 1995-96 macroeconomic and structural reformations. In 1997 domestic political uncertainty following an alleged coup d’état halted IMF disbursements but resumed again in 1998 after the formation of a new government. Since the 1990s there have been no active IMF loans, but Cambodian and IMF relations continue through Technical Assistant strategies and yearly Article IV reports.

Myanmar and the International Monetary Fund

Myanmar, officially joined the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as of January 3, 1952; shortly before the end of term for the Union of Myanmar's first President, Sao Shwe Thaik, and the induction of Ba U. Since the induction of Myanmar as a member of the institution, they have made six arrangements with the IMF with its most recent arrangement made in 1981. As of 2019, they are currently led by Kyaw Kyaw Maung and Alternate U Soe Thein; their Special Drawing Rights (SDR) is at 0.79 million and quota consists of $516.8 million SDR which is 0.11% of the total IMF funds available. As of 2019, the country is under one of the twenty-four Executive Boards that facilitates the day-to-day operations of the IMF, led by Alisara Mahasandana and Alternate Keng Heng Tan; their co-board members consist of Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Republic of Fiji, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Nepal, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Tonga, and Vietnam. The Executive Board accumulates around 218,545 total votes which account for 4.34% of the Fund's total, Myanmar allocates 6,633 of the votes.

Iraq and the International Monetary Fund Relation between Iraq and the International Monetary Fund, an international organisation

Iraq was one of the original members of the IMF, joining the IMF on December 27, 1945. Iraq provided $1663.89 million SDR, Special Drawing Rights, to the IMF, which is 0.35% of total SDR paid to the IMF. It also has 18,103 votes, which is 0.36% of the total votes distributed to the member countries of the IMF. The current Board of Governor of Iraq is Ali Muhsin Ismail with an alternative Board of Governor, Khaled Salah Alddin Mohammed Murad. Iraq is the part of the constituency with other countries such as Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Maldives, Oman, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, and Republic of Yemen. This constituency has 127,164 votes, 2.53% of total votes in the IMF. Since first joined, Iraq faced 4 official arrangements from the IMF: first arrangement on December 23, 2005, and the latest arrangement on July 7, 2016.

International Monetary Fund (IMF) is an international organization whose main tasks involves bringing countries together to allow for international monetary cooperation. This article describes the relationship between Morocco and the IMF since it joined in 1958. It also highlights some achievements and planned projects.

Sri Lanka and the International Monetary Fund

Sri Lanka joined the International Monetary Fund on August 29, 1950. Since June 1965, Sri Lanka has taken 16 loans from the IMF, with a total value of 3,586,000,000 SDR's. The most recent of these loans was agreed to in June 2016, with an agreed total of 1,070,780 SDR's, and 715,230,000 SDR's being withdrawn. Of this total, 715,230,000 SDR's remain outstanding.

Serbia has been a member of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) since December 14, 2022 with a quota of Special Drawing Rights (SDR) 654.8 million and 8,0007 votes. Serbia is currently represented on the Executive Board by Piotr Trabinski in a constituency with Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Poland, Serbia, Switzerland, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan that holds 2.88% of the total vote share.

References

  1. "Iran, Islamic Republic of: Financial Position in the Fund as of October 31, 2019". imf.org. International Monetary Fund. Retrieved 2 December 2019.
  2. "Islamic Republic of Iran". imf.org. International Monetary Fund. Retrieved 2 December 2019.
  3. "IMF Executive Directors and Voting Power". imf.org. International Monetary Fund. Retrieved 2 December 2019.
  4. "Islamic Republic of Iran". imf.org. International Monetary Fund. Retrieved 2 December 2019.
  5. "ran would need oil at $195 a barrel next year to balance budget: IMF". reuters.com. Reuters. 28 October 2019. Retrieved 2 December 2019.
  6. "2018 Article IV Consultation of IR Iran". imf.org. International Monetary Fund. Retrieved 2 December 2019.