Guide to Analysing Companies

International Bank for Reconstruction and Development
See world bank.
International Banking Facility
A type of offshore organisation that has been permitted in the
United States since the early 1980s. International Banking Facili-
ties (ibfs) can only carry out large financial transactions and
only with non-residents. But these transactions are free from the
reserves requirements imposed on domestic financial institu-
tions, and in many cases they are also free from state and local
taxes.
International Monetary Fund
An institution established as part of the landmark bretton
woods agreement of 1944. The role of the International
Monetary Fund (imf) was to oversee the system of fixed ex-
change rates which prevailed at the time. As fixed exchange
rates gave way (in most cases) to floating ones, the imf found a
new role for itself. It was deeply involved in sorting out the
I
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debt crisis that gripped the developing world during the 1980s,
imposing economic conditions on countries before agreeing to
new loans and the rescheduling of old ones.
It is this “conditionality” that has repeatedly drawn most crit-
icism: in Asia and Russia during the late 1990s and in Latin
America during the early 2000s. Some felt the imf acted too
brusquely with former communist states in eastern Europe and
later when confronted with the problems of Brazil and Ar-
gentina. As soon as the imf draws up new rules to deal more
flexibly and efficiently with the next crisis, it seems to be
wrong-footed by the latest set of problems.
With headquarters in Washington, dc, the imf has over 140
member countries. Originally confined to the capitalist west,
they now include many of the former communist states of
eastern Europe. Each country pays a membership fee (its quota),
which is related to the size of its economy. Members can then
borrow up to 25% of their quotas at will; if they want any more
they have to accept certain conditions from the imf on how
they run their economy. The managing director of the imf is tra-
ditionally a European and the deputy managing director an
American.