International Monetary Fund IMF

The International Monetary Fund was created at the Bretton Woods conference in New Hampshire in July 1944, as Allied nations planned a postwar economic system to avoid the currency wars of the 1930s. It opened in Washington, D.C., in 1946 and now has 191 member countries. It monitors the world economy and members' economic policies, gives technical advice, and lends to countries facing balance of payments crises, usually on the condition that they adopt reforms such as cutting deficits.

Votes are based on each country's quota, its financial contribution. The United States holds about 16.5 percent of the votes, the most of any country, and since major decisions need 85 percent, it can block them on its own. The Treasury Secretary is the U.S. governor of the fund, and Congress must approve changes to the U.S. quota. By tradition the managing director is European, while the World Bank president is American.

Critics on the left have long said IMF conditions force harsh spending cuts on poor countries, and critics on the right say bailouts reward bad policy and risk taxpayer money. Developing countries and China want more votes to reflect their economic weight. In 2025 the administration stayed in the fund while urging it to return to its core mission of currency stability and to drop work on climate and gender, a position some economists supported and others said narrowed its usefulness.