With its near-global membership of 188 countries, the IMF is uniquely placed to help member governments take advantage

of the opportunitiesand manage the challengesposed by globalization and economic development more generally. The IMF tracks global economic trends and performance, alerts its member countries when it sees problems on the horizon, provides a forum for policy dialogue, and passes on know-how to governments on how to tackle economic difficulties. The IMF provides policy advice and financing to members in economic difficulties and also works with developing nations to help them achieve macroeconomic stability and reduce poverty. Marked by massive movements of capital and abrupt shifts in comparative advantage,globalization affects countries' policy choices in many areas, including labor, trade, and tax policies. Helping a country benefit from globalization while avoiding potential downsides is an important task for the IMF. The global economic crisis has highlighted just how interconnected countries have become in todays world economy. Key IMF activities The IMF supports its membership by providing policy advice to governments and central banks based on analysis of economic trends and cross-country experiences; research, statistics, forecasts, and analysis based on tracking of global, regional, and individual economies and markets; loans to help countries overcome economic difficulties; concessional loans to help fight poverty in developing countries; and technical assistance and training to help countries improve the management of their economies. Original aims The IMF was founded more than 60 years ago toward the end of World War II (see History). The founders aimed to build a framework for economic cooperation that would avoid a repetition of the disastrous economic policies that had contributed to the Great Depression of the 1930s and the global conflict that followed. Since then the world has changed dramatically, bringing extensive prosperity and lifting millions out of poverty, especially in Asia. In many ways the IMF's main purposeto provide the global public good of financial stabilityis the same today as it was when the organization was established. More specifically, the IMF continues to provide a forum for cooperation on international monetary problems facilitate the growth of international trade, thus promoting job creation, economic growth, and poverty reduction; promote exchange rate stability and an open system of international payments; and lend countries foreign exchange when needed, on a temporary basis and under adequate safeguards, to help them address balance of payments problems. An adapting IMF The IMF has evolved along with the global economy throughout its 65-year history, allowing the organization to retain its central role within the international financial architecture As the world economy struggles to restore growth and jobs after the worst crisis since the Great Depression, the IMF has emerged as a very different institution. During the crisis, it mobilized on many fronts to support its member countries. It increased its lending, used its cross-country experience to advise on policy solutions, supported global policy coordination, and reformed the way it makes decisions. The result is an institution that is more in tune with the needs of its 188 member countries. Stepping up crisis lending. The IMF responded quickly to the global economic crisis, with lending commitments reaching a record level of more than US$250 billion in 2010. This

figure includes a sharp increase in concessional lending (thats to say, subsidized lending at rates below those being charged by the market) to the worlds poorest nations. Greater lending flexibility. The IMF has overhauled its lending framework to make it better suited to countries individual needs. It is also working with other regional institutions to create a broader financial safety net, which could help prevent new crises. Providing analysis and advice. The IMFs monitoring, forecasts, and policy advice, informed by a global perspective and by experience from previous crises, have been in high demand and have been used by the G-20. Drawing lessons from the crisis. The IMF is contributing to the ongoing effort to draw lessons from the crisis for policy, regulation, and reform of the global financial architecture. Historic reform of governance.The IMFs member countries also agreed to a significant increase in the voice of dynamic emerging and developing economies in the decision making of the institution, while preserving the voice of the low-income members.

The IMFs main goal is to ensure the stability of the international monetary and financial system. It helps resolve crises, and works with its member countries to promote growth and alleviate poverty. It has three main tools at its disposal to carry out its mandate: surveillance, technical assistance and training, and lending. These functions are underpinned by the IMFs research and statistics. Surveillance The IMF promotes economic stability and global growth by encouraging countries to adopt sound economic and financial policies. To do this, it regularly monitors global, regional, and national economic developments. It also seeks to assess the impact of the policies of individual countries on other economies. This process of monitoring and discussing countries economic and financial policies is known as bilateral surveillance. On a regular basisusually once each yearthe IMF conducts in depth appraisals of each member countrys economic situation. It discusses with the countrys authorities the policies that are most conducive to a stable and prosperous economy, drawing on experience across its membership. Member countries may agree to publish the IMFs assessment of their economies, with the vast majority of countries opting to do so. The IMF also carries out extensive analysis of global and regional economic trends, known as multilateral surveillance. Its key outputs are three semiannual publications, the World Economic Outlook, the Global Financial Stability Report, and the Fiscal Monitor. The IMF also publishes a series of regional economic outlooks. The IMF recently agreed on a series of actions to enhance multilateral, financial, and bilateral surveillance, including to better integrate the three; improve our understanding of spillovers and the assessment of emerging and potential risks; and strengthen IMF policy advice. For more information on how the IMF monitors economies, go to Surveillance in the Our Worksection. Technical assistance and training IMF offers technical assistance and training to help member countries strengthen their capacity to design and implement effective policies. Technical assistance is offered in several areas, including fiscal policy, monetary and exchange rate policies, banking and financial system supervision and regulation, and statistics. The IMF provides technical assistance and training mainly in four areas: monetary and financial policies (monetary policy instruments, banking system supervision and restructuring, foreign management and operations, clearing settlement systems for payments, and structural development of central banks);

fiscal policy and management (tax and customs policies and administration, budget formulation, expenditure management, design of social safety nets, and management of domestic and foreign debt); compilation, management, dissemination, and improvement of statistical data; and economic and financial legislation. For more on technical assistance, go to Technical Assistance in the Our Work section. Lending IMF financing provides member countries the breathing room they need to correct balance of payments problems. A policy program supported by financing is designed by the national authorities in close cooperation with the IMF. Continued financial support isconditional on the effective implementation of this program. In the most recent reforms, IMF lending instruments were improved further to provideflexible crisis prevention tools to a broad range of members with sound fundamentals, policies, and institutional policy frameworks. In low-income countries, the IMF has doubled loan access limits and is boosting its lending to the worlds poorer countries, with loans at a concessional interest rate. For more on different types of IMF lending, go to Lending in the Our Work section. Research and data Supporting all three of these activities is the IMFs economic and financial research andstatistics. In recent years, the IMF has applied both its surveillance and technical assistance work to the development of standards and codes of good practice in its areas of responsibility, and to the strengthening of financial sectors. These are part of the IMFs continuing efforts to strengthen national and global financial systems and improve its ability to prevent and resolve crises.