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IMF offices around the worldThe IMF has small offices in countries around the world. These comprise resident representative posts; overseas offices (Guatemala City, New York, Paris, Tokyo, Warsaw); and regional technical assistance centers and training institutes. Organizational Chart:
Quotas Each member country's quota broadly reflects the size of its economy: the larger a country's economy in terms of output and the larger and more variable its trade, the larger its quota tends to be. For example, the world's biggest economy, the United States, has the largest quota in the IMF. Quotas, together with the equal number of basic votes each member has, determine countries'voting power. They also help determine how much countries can borrow from the IMF and their share in allocations of special drawing rights or SDRs (the reserve currency created by the IMF in 1969). Countries pay 25 percent of their quota subscriptions in SDRs or major currencies, such as U.S. dollars, euros, pounds sterling, or Japanese yen. They pay the remaining 75 percent in their own currencies. The IMF's lending resources come mainly from the money that countries pay as these quota subscriptions when they become members. Quota reviews Quotas are normally reviewed every five years and can be increased when deemed necessary by the Board of Governors. The 14th General Review of Quotas was completed two years ahead of the original schedule in December 2010, with a decision to double the IMF's quota resources to SDR 476.8 billion. A review of the formula currently used to determine quotas, which formed the basis to work from during the 14th General Review, will be completed by January 2013. Completion of the 15th General Review of Quotas will be brought forward by about two years to January 2014. Recent reforms In recent years, the IMF began a number of reforms related to rebalancing members' quotas to ensure they continue to broadly reflect countries' relative size in the world economy. In 2011, the number of basic votes was nearly tripled, which helped to ensure poorer countries maintained a say in running the institution. Once they take effect, a further set of quota and voice reforms will produce a shift of 6 percent of quota shares to the dynamic emerging market and developing countries. This will result in a significant shift in the representation of these countries in IMF decision making. Special Drawing Rights Highlights of this section: ? SDR?s value ? SDR allocations to IMF members The Special Drawing Right (SDR) is an international reserve asset, created by the IMF in 1969 to supplement the existing official reserves of member countries. The SDR is neither a currency, nor a claim on the IMF. Rather, it is a potential claim on the freely usable currencies of IMF members. Holders of SDRs can obtain these currencies in exchange for their SDRs in two ways: first, through the arrangement of voluntary exchanges between members; and second, by the IMF designating members with strong external positions to purchase SDRs from members with weak external positions. In addition to its role as a supplementary reserve asset, the SDR serves as the unit of account of the IMF and some other international organizations. In addition to its role as a supplementary reserve asset, the SDR serves as the unit of account of the IMF and some other international organizations.
Making sense of SDR VIDEO: SDR?s value The value of the SDR is based on a basket of key international currencies?the euro, Japanese yen, pound sterling, and U.S. dollar. The U.S. dollar-value of the SDR is posted daily on the IMF?s website. The basket composition is reviewed every five years by the Executive Board to ensure that it reflects the relative importance of currencies in the world?s trading and financial systems. The SDR interest rate provides the basis for calculating the interest charged to members on regular (nonconcessional) IMF loans, the interest paid and charged to members on their SDR holdings, and the interest paid to members on a portion of their quota subscriptions. The SDR interest rate is determined weekly and is based on a weighted average of representative interest rates on short-term debt in the money markets of the SDR basket currencies. Date: 2016-06-12; view: 217
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