International Monetary Fund/Internationaler Währungsfonds (IWF). Founded in 1944 in the context of the monetary and financial conference at Bretton Woods, USA. This United Nations specialised agency has 184 member countries.
Its tasks comprise cooperation in monetary matters, the promotion of balanced world trade, the removal of currency and other restrictions, and the provision of credit to countries with a negative balance of payments (the so-called special drawing rights). Its headquarters is in Washington, D.C.
The management bodies of the IMF are the Board of Governors, the International Monetary and Financial Committee, and the Executive Board. Management responsibility lies with a Managing Director, an office which from 2000 to 2004 was held by the current Federal President Horst Köhler.
