What is International Monetary Fund (IMF)?

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is an international financial institution and a non-governmental organization (NGO) based in Washington D.C. It is made up of 190 representative countries from around the world. The IMF is built to foster global monetary cooperation, secure financial stability, facilitate international trade, promote sustainable levels of economic growth, and reduce global poverty. The IMF periodically depends on the World Bank and other international resources to help make this vision a reality. The idea for the organization was formed in 1944 at the Bretton Woods Conference, and the IMF became operational in 1945.