International organizations

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is the major international financial institution. The IMF was founded at the Bretton Woods Conference in 1944 in order to increase the stability of the world monetary system. The USSR took part in the work on establishing the IMF, but for a number of political reasons refused to become a founding member. The goal of the IMF is to maintain the stability of the global financial system. In accordance with the Articles of Agreement, the IMF’s main purposes are to promote international monetary cooperation, to facilitate the expansion and balanced growth of international trade, to promote exchange stability and to maintain orderly exchange arrangements, to assist in the establishment of a multilateral system of payments and in the elimination of foreign exchange restrictions, to give confidence to members by making the general resources of the Fund temporarily available to them, thus providing them with opportunity to correct maladjustments in their balance of payments and to shorten the duration and lessen the degree of disequilibrium in the international balances of payments.

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development was founded in 1948 under the name of the Organization for European Economic Cooperation to coordinate projects for the economic reconstruction of Europe under the Marshall Plan. The OECD headquarters are located in Paris. The OECD is comprised of 38 countries, including most of the EU member states. The OECD is an international organization aiming to develop recommendations and shape policies of governments that foster prosperity, equality, opportunity and well-being for all.