International monetary Fund

 IMF, was conceived at a UN conference in Bretton Woods, , in July 1944.

 The 44 countries at that conference sought to build a framework for economic cooperation to avoid a repetition of the competitive devaluations that had contributed to the Great Depression of the 1930s.

 With the membership of 189 countries, the Fund's mandate was updated in 2012 to include all macroeconomic and financial sector issues that bear on global stability.

 A core responsibility of the IMF is to provide loans to member countries experiencing actual or potential balance of payments problems.

 Unlike development banks, the IMF does not lend for specific projects.

 The SDR is an international reserve asset, created by the IMF in 1969 to supplement its member countries’ official reserves.

 Gold remains an important asset in the reserve holdings of several countries, and the IMF is still one of the world’s largest official holders of gold.

 Unlike the General Assembly of the United Nations, where each country has one vote, decision making at the IMF was designed to reflect the relative positions of its member countries in the global economy.

 Reports released - World economic outlook, Global Financial stability report.