1. Introduction1.1 What is the International Monetary Fund (IMF)? “The International Monetary Fund is an organization that provides short-term credit to 186 member countries. The International Monetary Fund strives to maintain orderly payment arrangements between countries and to promote growth in the global economy without inflation. It supports free trade in goods and services. To stabilize its members' economies, the IMF provides policy advice and short-term loans when a member country encounters financial difficulties. » World Book, Inc1.2 The history of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The International Monetary Fund was conceived during World War II by men whose worldview had been shaped by the Great War and the Great Depression. Their views on how the postwar international monetary system should work were also shaped by their economic training and nationality. To prevent a re-emergence of monetary and financial instability, the Conference created the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The creation of the IMF took place in July 1944, when 45 governments and their representatives met in the town of Bretton Woods, New Hampshire, in the northeastern United States. They agreed on a framework for international economic cooperation. a charter of an international institution responsible for overseeing the international monetary system and promoting both the elimination of foreign exchange restrictions relating to trade in goods and services and the stability of exchange rates. The main role of the IMF was to stabilize the exchange rate, prevent crises and resolve them. After the IMF began functioning as an institution, its evolution was also driven by a combination of political and even political factors. ......the solutions to these new situations had to be adapted quickly, and yet many elements of the old doctrine have survived, sometimes dinosaurs, in contradiction with the new reality of these external crises facing economies in development. Works cited1. Bannock,G. Davis,E.etl. The New Penguin Business Dictionary. 2002. Strand:London. Page 267.2. Boughton, James M. The IMF and the Power of History: Ten Events and Ten Ideas That Shaped the Institution.2004. http://www.imf.org [Consulted on the Web: April 27, 2010].3. Fetzer, S. Business. The World Book Encyclopedia: I volume 10. United States of America. 2001.4. Frenkel, R. Current Problems with the IMF: Backgrounder. 2007. http://library.fes.de [Consulted on the Web: April 27, 2010].5. Fundamental imbalance: role in balance of payments accounting. Britanica-eb.com. http://www.britannica.com [Accessed on the Web: April 26 2010].