The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is an intergovernmental international financial organization. It was established according to the agreement of the International Monetary Fund adopted at the International Monetary and Financial Conference of the United Nations and its allies held in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire in July, 1944. It was formally established on February 27th, 1945, and started its business on March 27th, 1947. In the same year165438+1October 15 became a specialized agency of the United Nations, but it has its own independence in operation. So far, the International Monetary Fund has 182 members.
The IMF has five regional departments (Africa, Asia, Europe, Middle East and Western Hemisphere) and 12 functional departments (Administration Department, Central Bank Department, Exchange and Trade Relations Department, External Relations Department, Financial Affairs Department, IMF Research Institute, Legal Affairs Department, Research Department, Secretariat Department, Treasurer Department, Statistics and Language Service Bureau). Its purpose is to consult and cooperate on international financial issues as a permanent institution and promote international monetary cooperation; Promote the expansion and balanced development of international trade; Promote and maintain high-level employment, development of productive resources and real income of member States; Promote the stability of international exchange, maintain orderly exchange rate arrangements among member countries, and prevent the devaluation of competitive currencies; Assist member countries to establish multilateral payment rules in current account transactions, remove obstacles that prevent member countries from providing ordinary funds temporarily, so that they can correct the imbalance of international payments, instead of taking measures that endanger their own or international prosperity, shorten the time and reduce the imbalance of international payments.
The main business activities of the International Monetary Fund include: providing loans to members, promoting international cooperation on monetary issues, studying related issues of the reform of the international monetary system, studying and expanding the role of the International Monetary Fund, providing technical assistance, and strengthening ties with other international institutions.
the World Bank
The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) is a specialized agency under the United Nations and an international financial institution responsible for long-term loans. The World Bank was established in accordance with the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development Agreement adopted at the Bretton Woods Conference in the United States in 1944. The purpose of the World Bank is to provide funds for the revival and development of member countries through production investment; Promote foreign investment and human investment through loan guarantee or participation in loans and other forms of investment. When member countries cannot obtain private capital under reasonable conditions, they will give direct loans to member countries with the World Bank's own funds or raised funds and other funds under appropriate conditions to supplement the shortage of private investment; By encouraging international investment, developing the production resources of member countries, providing technical advice and improving production capacity, we can promote the balanced growth of international trade and improve the balance of payments of member countries.
According to the purpose of the World Bank, its main business activities are to provide long-term loans to developing member countries, to provide loans and technical assistance to member governments or private enterprises guaranteed by governments, and to finance the construction of some construction projects with long construction period and low profit rate, which are necessary for the country's economic and social development.
The World Bank cooperates with the International Development Association (IDA), the International Finane Corporation, the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) and the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) to form the World Bank Group.
In 2004, the World Bank provided US$ 206,543,800 billion to 245 projects in developing countries, bringing them funds and/or expertise to help them reduce poverty.
We live in a rich world, and the global annual income has exceeded 3 1 trillion dollars. In this world, the per capita annual income of some countries is above $40,000. However, in the same world, there are 2.8 billion people (more than half of the population in developing countries) whose per capita annual income is less than 700 dollars. Among them, 65.438+0.2 billion people earn less than $ 654.38+0 per day.
As a result, 33,000 children die every day in developing countries. In these countries, more than one woman of each race died in childbirth. Poverty prevents more than 65.438 billion children from attending school, most of whom are girls.
While the population is increasing (it is estimated that the population will increase by 3 billion in the next 50 years), it is a great challenge to reduce the poverty level.
The World Bank is trying to narrow this gap and turn the resources of rich countries into economic growth of poor countries. As one of the largest providers of development assistance in the world, the World Bank supports the efforts of governments in developing countries to build schools and hospitals, supply water and electricity, prevent and treat diseases and protect the environment.
It's not a bank, it's a specialized agency. The World Bank is not a "bank" in the general sense, but one of the specialized agencies of the United Nations, with 184 member countries. These countries are jointly responsible for the financing and use of World Bank funds. The World Bank, together with the entire development association, is focusing its work on achieving the new Millennium Development Goals and sustainable poverty reduction achieved by United Nations Member States in 2000.
The name "World Bank" has been used to refer to the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) and the International Development Association (IDA). These institutions jointly provide low-interest loans, interest-free credits and grants to developing countries.
About 65,438+0,000 development professionals work in the World Bank headquarters in Washington, D.C. and its representative offices in 65,438+0,009 countries.
9 billion dollars of funds. Low-income countries in the world are usually unable to raise funds from the international capital market, or can only borrow at high interest rates. In addition to donations and loans directly provided by developed countries, these countries also receive grants, interest-free loans and technical assistance from the World Bank to enable them to provide basic services. The loan period of the World Bank is 35 to 40 years with a grace period of 65,438+00 years.
In fiscal year 2004, IDA provided $9 billion for 158 projects in 62 low-income countries.
Interest-free credit and grants come from the International Development Association, which is the largest source of preferential funds in the world. About 40 rich countries provide such assistance in the form of donations every four years. The latest capital increase was in 2002, with donor countries providing nearly $9 billion and the World Bank providing $6.6 billion. At that time, donor countries agreed to increase the use of IDA grants, up to 265,438+0% of the total funds, to solve some special difficulties, such as AIDS in the poorest countries and the most vulnerable countries.
Loans from the International Development Association account for about a quarter of the World Bank's financial assistance. Except for the funds of the International Development Association, almost all the income of the World Bank is not provided by its member countries.
1 1 billion USD loan. High-income developing countries. Some of them can borrow money from commercial channels, but the interest rate is usually high. They can get loans from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development.
The repayment period of IBRD loans is much longer than that of commercial bank loans. The repayment period of IBRD loan is 15 to 20 years, and the grace period before repayment of principal is 3 to 5 years. Governments in developing countries borrow money for specific projects, including poverty alleviation, social services, environmental protection and economic growth conducive to improving living standards. In fiscal year 2004, IBRD provided a loan of 1 1 billion dollars to support 87 projects in 33 countries.
Raise funds. Almost all the funds of IBRD are raised from the international financial market (the amount raised in fiscal year 2004 was $654.38+0.3 billion). The World Bank with AAA credit rating raises funds by issuing bonds and then lends them to its borrowing countries at low interest rates.
World Bank Group. In addition to the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the International Development Association, the World Bank Group has three other institutions. IFC promotes the development of the private sector by providing support to high-risk sectors and countries. The Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) provides political risk insurance (guarantee) to investors and lenders in developing countries. ICSID resolves investment disputes between foreign investors and host countries.
Global products. In the past few years, the World Bank has invested a lot of manpower and material resources in activities aimed at having a global impact. One of the products is debt relief. According to the enhanced Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Initiative, 26 poor countries have received debt relief, which will save these countries $46,543.8 billion. These countries can use debt service savings to provide housing, education, medical care and welfare projects for the poor.
The World Bank has established an unprecedented global partnership with 189 countries and many institutions to eradicate poverty. The new Millennium Development Goals clearly stipulate the goals to be achieved before 2065-2005 in terms of enrollment rate, infant mortality rate, medical care for pregnant women and access to clean water.
Together with many other global partners, the World Bank has made the fight against HIV/AIDS its top agenda. The World Bank is the largest long-term funding provider for HIV/AIDS projects. At present, the World Bank has promised to provide $654.38+03 billion for HIV/AIDS, half of which will be used for projects in sub-Saharan Africa.
Corruption and fraud. The World Bank cooperates with other countries to fight corruption, and the World Bank has various mechanisms to prevent corruption and fraud in World Bank loan projects. Institutional Integrity Department has a 24-hour hotline for corruption and fraud: 1-800-83 1-0463.
Down-to-earth work in many ways. So far, the World Bank has participated in more than 65,438+0,800 projects, covering almost all sectors and all developing countries. Its diversified projects include providing micro-credit to Bosnia and Herzegovina, raising awareness of AIDS in relevant communities in Guinea, supporting girls' education in Bangladesh, improving medical services in Mexico, helping East Timor to rebuild after independence, and helping Gujarat in India to rebuild after a severe earthquake.
The term of office of the President of the World Bank is five years.
Election of the chairman:
The World Bank approved this nomination, and the Executive Board of the World Bank unanimously approved Mr. Wolfowitz.
Statement by the Executive Director-After extensive talks with members of the Executive Board, a statement was made on behalf of 108 developing countries and countries in transition, as well as 1 1 people from European member States.
Cooperation with Member States
Today, it is not the World Bank that drives the project agenda, but the member countries themselves, and the staff of the World Bank only provide technical assistance.
One of the important criteria guiding the World Bank to select projects in member countries is poverty and performance. World Bank loans focus on countries whose overall policy environment is conducive to improving aid effectiveness and can have an important impact on the existence of the World Bank.
Whether the new Millennium Development Goals can be achieved and whether aid can be used effectively depends on whether a country's development strategy is strong and comprehensive and its commitment to development. The sense of ownership of member countries is the key principle of the comprehensive development framework of the World Bank, which dominates the relationship between the World Bank and its customers. Every strategy must be based on good policies, systems and governance, and needs to be supported by more development assistance and better international partnership.
The country assistance strategy describes in detail the relationship between the World Bank and each borrowing country. The coverage period of country strategy is usually three years, and the level and composition of aid are determined according to the demand and the performance of asset portfolio. With the consent of the borrower, the country strategy can be published publicly.
Loan project
For low-income countries eligible for grants and interest-free loans from the International Development Association, the principles of the national aid strategy must be written into the poverty reduction strategy document before preparing the World Bank aid projects. Since 1999, the strategic poverty reduction document-poverty reduction must be the focus of any development plan, with the full participation of the private sector and civil society-is a prerequisite for obtaining financial and other assistance and, in some cases, a requirement for debt relief.
Since poverty reduction is still a very important issue in most middle-income countries (770,000, pdf), the World Bank can play a role through loans from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development. This usually means creating an investment environment conducive to attracting more private capital, helping to formulate effective and fair social expenditure plans, and creating conditions for building human capital and providing fair economic opportunities.
A large part of the world's poor live in middle-income countries, which generally have access to the international capital market, but the degree is limited and often unstable.
Non-loan assistance
For projects that can improve the development ability of borrowing countries, borrowing countries can get loans or non-loan assistance. Economic and sectoral work is to fully understand the development problems of borrowing countries, the need for external financing and the availability of external funds, as well as the analytical framework for evaluating development strategies and donor assistance activities. An important goal of economic and sectoral work is to identify high-yield projects that can directly benefit the poor in advance.
The economic and departmental work of the World Bank has laid an analytical foundation for its policy and public expenditure consultation, as well as the development of projects and other businesses.
Grants are an integral part of the World Bank's development work. In addition to providing grants through the International Development Association, the World Bank also manages more than a dozen grant projects and about 850 donor trust funds (with annual payments exceeding $654.38 billion).
Emergency assistance is provided in the event of natural disasters or any events that have a significant impact on the economy and require rapid response. This assistance takes many forms. For example, the World Bank can formulate a recovery strategy and adjust the structure of its existing loan portfolio to support recovery. The World Bank also issues quick emergency loans. For example, the World Bank recently provided $654.38+600 million in aid to Ethiopia, Malawi and Zambia to help them recover from drought. The World Bank also provided India with a loan of about US$ 600 million for reconstruction after the earthquake in Gujarat in June 2006. When implementing flood control and forest fire prevention measures, the World Bank has also designed some disaster management projects. Since 1980, the World Bank has also approved more than 500 disaster-related businesses, amounting to more than $38 billion.
Conflict prevention and post-conflict reconstruction are essential for poverty reduction. The role of the World Bank in this field goes far beyond post-war infrastructure reconstruction.
At present, this work also involves economic recovery, capacity building, local social development, demining, re-employment of retired soldiers and resettlement of refugees.
During the period of 1990-2002 alone, there were 56 serious armed conflicts in 44 different regions of the world, which aggravated the poverty problem and affected various development work.
The recent initiatives launched by the World Bank to deal with conflicts include:
Helping Afghanistan to restore public administration, strengthen education and rebuild infrastructure ($368 million);
454 million U.S. dollars have been provided for multi-sector rehabilitation and reconstruction projects in the Democratic Republic of Congo to help the country increase agricultural production, improve food security, restore major infrastructure and basic social services, and improve the government's ability to formulate and implement development plans.
Helping demobilized soldiers in Cambodia, Chad, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Mozambique, Sierra Leone and the Great Lakes region to re-find jobs; And the resettlement of displaced persons in Azerbaijan, Liberia, Rwanda and Sierra Leone.
According to the World Bank's financing guide for surface mine clearance, help mine action plans in Azerbaijan, Bosnia, Croatia and Ethiopia.
In addition to grants from the International Development Association, multi-donor grants managed by the World Bank and other special assistance mechanisms, since 1997, the World Bank's post-conflict fund has provided $53 million in grants to 48 countries, including:
In Afghanistan, reconstruction strategies, community empowerment projects and projects funded by key sectors involving Afghanistan and other stakeholders.
Health sector rehabilitation project implemented by the International Red Cross in Somalia.
Continue to provide support to the Travnik mental health project in Bosnia to solve the psychosocial problems left over from the conflict.
Restore communication links between the Democratic Republic of the Congo and rural areas of the country.
Emphasizing the agenda driven by Member States requires that the development capacity of Member States be cultivated at the same time. Changing the thinking of development, that is, more comprehensive, driven by member States, with clear and measurable responsibilities, requires certain capabilities, which often did not exist before. More and more World Bank resources are used to improve the self-development ability of member countries.
This is a form of "knowledge sharing", which also brings a new way of working, that is, everyone participates in it, and a team composed of government officials, non-government officials, private sector representatives and government officials of donor countries can * * * enjoy knowledge and information, and can work out projects that member governments are truly conscious and committed to.
The World Bank continues to support this work through projects based on new technologies. For example, in 20001year, the World Bank provided detailed information on activities supported by about 300,000 donors around the world with the help of global development. The World Bank Institute has also formulated some special plans aimed at improving its capacity.
The World Bank also provides support to the global development network connecting research institutions in developed and developing countries to ensure that there are no loopholes in the research on the poverty reduction agenda. The African Virtual University cooperates with African higher education institutions to help improve the level of these institutions and build a well-trained talent pool on the African continent. In the field of technology, the information development plan supports some small-scale pilot activities aimed at helping bridge the digital divide. The World Development Linkages project brings middle school students and teachers from developing countries into contact with those from industrial countries, and helps them integrate technology into their courses.
Corruption prevention and governance. External financing must be managed honestly and transparently if it is to be effectively used to reduce poverty. Since 1996, the World Bank has carried out more than 600 anti-corruption projects and governance initiatives in more than 100 client countries. The World Bank's approach is established in its strategic document on governance and public sector governance (Reforming public institutions and strengthening governance: the World Bank strategy).
At present, nearly a quarter of new projects include public expenditure and financial reform.
As early as 1980, only 0.6% of World Bank loans were used to support important public sector reform projects, and by the end of fiscal year 2000, this proportion rose to 16%. Newly approved public expenditure and financial reform projects increased from 9% in fiscal year 1997 to 23% in fiscal year 2000. At the same time, the proportion of adjustment loans involving anti-corruption and transparency in the total loans increased from 8% in fiscal year 1998 to about 50% in fiscal year 2000.
Recent anti-corruption projects include:
Support tax reform in Colombia and Venezuela
Reform of judicial system in Slovakia
Management system reform in Russia and Ukraine
Administrative and Civil Service Reform in Tanzania and Yemen
Extensive governance reforms in Latvia and Cambodia
Public expenditure and financial management reform in Burkina Faso, Ghana and Malawi.
In addition, the World Bank conducted a series of country analyses in Albania, Argentina, Cambodia, Georgia, Latvia, Romania, Slovakia, Ecuador and Uganda, including corruption surveys, expenditure tracking surveys and government officials surveys.
Preventing corruption in projects funded by the World Bank. According to the anti-corruption strategy of 1997, the World Bank has adopted the most advanced internal control methods widely used by financial institutions. At present, the World Bank systematically evaluates key risks and checks internal controls and compliance.
In order to facilitate staff and others to report corruption, the World Bank has set up a 24-hour anonymous international hotline with the number 1-800-83 1-0463. By September, 20001year, according to its investigation, the World Bank permanently disqualified 72 companies and individuals from obtaining World Bank-funded project contracts. The World Bank is the first multilateral development bank to publish a list of individuals and companies suspected of some form of fraud and corruption on its website.
the World Bank
On June 12, World Bank spokesman Victoria Song said: "The World Bank decided today to stop issuing new loans to China". The board of directors of Enterprise Bank was scheduled to discuss two new loans with a total amount of nearly 230 million US dollars requested by Beijing on 13. However, due to the current situation, the discussion on these requests will be postponed. On 26th, the World Bank issued a statement saying: "After consultation with China authorities, it has been decided to postpone the consideration of several loans before the meeting of the World Bank Executive Board". Victoria Song, spokesman of the World Bank, said: "The deferred loan is about 78120,000 RMB, which should have been discussed in June, the last month of the World Bank's fiscal year. The funds used to finance seven projects should have been provided by the World Bank and its subsidiary, the International Development Association.