International Monetary Fund

The IMF’s chronology records that at the United Nations Monetary and Financial Conference at Bretton Woods, New Hampshire, from July 1 to 22, 1944, 44 countries drafted the Articles of Agreement of the IMF and the World Bank.⁠[1][2]

The Articles of Agreement entered into force on December 27, 1945, after they were signed by 29 governments representing 80% of the original quotas.⁠[1]

The Board of Governors held its inaugural meeting in Savannah, Georgia, from March 8 to 18, 1946 and decided to locate the headquarters in Washington; on May 6 twelve executive directors, five appointed and seven elected, held their first meeting in Washington, and Camille Gutt of Belgium became the first managing director.⁠[1][3]

The IMF began operations on March 1, 1947, and on May 8 that year France made the first drawing from the Fund.⁠[1]

The IMF created the Special Drawing Right in 1969 as a supplementary international reserve asset. It made a general allocation of about SDR 161 billion ($250 billion) in 2009, plus a one-time special allocation, and another of about SDR 456 billion (about $650 billion) in 2021; a basket review concluded in 2022 set new weights for the U.S. dollar, euro, renminbi, yen and pound sterling from August 1 that year.⁠[4]

The IMF lists its managing directors as Camille Gutt (Belgium, 1946–1951), Ivar Rooth (Sweden, 1951–1956), Per Jacobsson (Sweden, 1956–1963), Pierre-Paul Schweitzer (France, 1963–1973), H. Johannes Witteveen (Netherlands, 1973–1978), Jacques de Larosière (France, 1978–1987), Michel Camdessus (France, 1987–2000), Horst Köhler (Germany, 2000–2004), Rodrigo de Rato (Spain, 2004–2007), Dominique Strauss-Kahn (France, 2007–2011) and Christine Lagarde (France, 2011–2019).⁠[3]

Bulgarian economist Kristalina Georgieva became managing director on October 1, 2019. On April 12, 2024 the Executive Board selected her by consensus for a second five-year term beginning October 1, 2024.⁠[3][5]

The Board of Governors concluded the 16th General Review of Quotas, approving a 50% increase subject to members’ consent; under the 14th Review total quotas were SDR 477 billion, about $640 billion.⁠[6]

The IMF staff discussion note “Gen-AI: Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Work” (SDN/2024/001) estimated that almost 40% of global employment is exposed to AI, about 60% of jobs in advanced economies, 40% in emerging market economies and 26% in low-income countries.⁠[7][8]

Georgieva wrote on the IMF blog the same day that roughly half of exposed jobs in advanced economies may benefit from AI integration, while for the other half AI could execute key tasks, lowering labour demand, wages and hiring, and in extreme cases some jobs may disappear; “In most scenarios, AI will likely worsen overall inequality,” she wrote. The post introduced an AI Preparedness Index covering 125 countries, with Singapore, the United States and Denmark scoring highest.⁠[8]

Liechtenstein became the IMF’s 191st member, with an initial quota of SDR 100 million, about $134.7 million.⁠[9]

On July 21, 2025 the IMF announced that Gita Gopinath, who joined as chief economist in January 2019 and became first deputy managing director in January 2022, would leave at the end of August to return to HarvardHarvard UniversityHarvard University is a private research university in Massachusetts, established by the Massachusetts Bay Colony legislature in 1636 and named in 1639 for early benefactor John Harvard. Its principal campuses are in Cambridge and the Allston and Longwood neighborhoods of Boston. It includes Harvard College, graduate and professional schools, and the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study. Two governing boards share oversight. Alan M. Garber was president as of October 2026, and the endowment stood at $56.9 billion at the end of fiscal 2025.Open the full entry’s economics department. On October 3 it announced the appointment of Dan Katz, formerly chief of staff at the U.S. Treasury, as first deputy managing director from October 6.⁠[10][11]

The IMF named Silvana Tenreyro, an external member of the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee from 2017 to 2023 and a professor at the London School of EconomicsLondon School of Economics and Political ScienceThe London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) is a specialist social science university in central London, founded in 1895 by members of the Fabian Society. It is known for research in economics, politics and social policy, and its alumni and staff include many Nobel laureates and national leaders.Open the full entry, as Economic Counsellor and Director of the Research Department.⁠[12]

Recent IMF World Economic Outlook titles were “A Critical Juncture amid Policy Shifts” (April 2025), “Tenuous Resilience amid Persistent Uncertainty” (July 2025 update), “Global Economy in Flux, Prospects Remain Dim” (October 2025), “Steady amid Divergent Forces” (January 2026 update) and “Global Economy in the Shadow of War” (April 2026).⁠[13]

The October 13, 2026 edition, “Resilience Under Strain, Urgent Choices,” projected global growth slowing to 3.1% in 2026 and rebounding to 3.4% in 2027, with headline inflation of 4.7% in 2026 and 4.1% in 2027, and listed risks including conflict escalation, a reassessment of AI expectations, trade tensions and fiscal vulnerabilities.⁠[14]

The IMF has 191 member countries. Each has a governor on the Board of Governors, the highest decision-making body; a 25-member Executive Board chaired by the managing director conducts daily business; and the managing director heads the staff for a renewable five-year term. Advisory bodies include the 25-member International Monetary and Financial Committee and the joint IMF–World Bank Development Committee.⁠[15][16]

International Monetary Fund: Official website: https://www.imf.org/ (opens in a new window)⁠[15]

X: Official account: https://x.com/IMFNews (opens in a new window)⁠[17]