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88-551: The logic of formal trade agreements is that they outline what is agreed upon and specify the punishments for deviation from the rules set in the agreement. Trade agreements therefore make misunderstandings less likely, and create confidence on both sides that cheating will be punished; this increases the likelihood of long-term cooperation. An international organization, such as the IMF , can further incentivize cooperation by monitoring compliance with agreements and reporting third countries of

176-434: A January 2014 report entitled "Fiscal Policy and Income Inequality" that stated that "Some taxes levied on wealth, especially on immovable property, are also an option for economies seeking more progressive taxation ... Property taxes are equitable and efficient, but underutilized in many economies ... There is considerable scope to exploit this tax more fully, both as a revenue source and as a redistributive instrument." At

264-483: A broader focus of promoting market-liberalizing reforms through structural adjustment programs. This shift occurred without a formal renegotiation of the organization's charter or operational guidelines. The Ronald Reagan administration , in particular Treasury Secretary James Baker , his assistant secretary David Mulford and deputy assistant secretary Charles Dallara , pressured the IMF to attach market-liberal reforms to

352-543: A certain region. There are currently 205 agreements in force as of July 2007. Over 300 have been reported to the WTO. The number of FTA has increased significantly over the last decade. Between 1948 and 1994, the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), the predecessor to the WTO, received 124 notifications. Since 1995 over 300 trade agreements have been enacted. The WTO is further classifying these agreements in

440-496: A common market. A " fiscal union " introduces a shared fiscal and budgetary policy. In order to be successful the more advanced integration steps are typically accompanied by unification of economic policies (tax, social welfare benefits, etc.), reductions in the rest of the trade barriers , introduction of supranational bodies, and gradual moves towards the final stage, a "political union".   [ partial ] — [ substantial ] — [ none or not applicable ] Globalization refers to

528-525: A country. The second type is a bilateral trade agreement , when signed by two parties, where each party may be a country (or other customs territory ), a trade bloc or an informal group of countries (or other customs territories). Both countries loosen their trade restrictions to help businesses, so that they can prosper better between the different countries. This definitely helps lower taxes and it helps them converse about their trade status. Usually, this revolves around subsided domestic industries. Mainly

616-416: A different speed of economic unification (coherence) applied both to economic sectors and economic policies. Implementation of the coherence principle in adjusting economic policies in the member states of economic block causes economic integration effects . The framework of the theory of economic integration was laid out by Jacob Viner (1950) who defined the trade creation and trade diversion effects,

704-421: A lower price, closer to the cost of cloth. The conclusion drawn is that each country can gain by specializing in the good where it has comparative advantage, and trading that good for the other. Economies of scale refers to the cost advantages that an enterprise obtains due to expansion. There are factors that cause a producer's average cost per unit to fall as the scale of output is increased. Economies of scale

792-506: A new definition of gross domestic product (GDP), as a difference between aggregate revenues of sectors and investment (a modification of the value added definition of the GDP). It was possible to analytically prove that all the states gain from economic unification, with larger states receiving less growth of GDP and productivity, and vice versa concerning the benefit to lesser states. Although this fact has been empirically known for decades, now it

880-487: A position of oversight of only exchange rates, their function became one of surveillance of the overall macroeconomic performance of member countries. Their role became a lot more active because the IMF now manages economic policy rather than just exchange rates. In addition, the IMF negotiates conditions on lending and loans under their policy of conditionality , which was established in the 1950s. Low-income countries can borrow on concessional terms , which means there

968-740: A very powerful agreement. The larger the GDP of the signatories, the greater the impact on other global trade relationships. The largest multilateral trade agreement is the North American Free Trade Agreement, involving the United States, Canada, and Mexico. These are between countries in a certain area. The most powerful ones include a few countries that are near each other in a geographical area. These countries often have similar histories, demographics and economic goals. The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)

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1056-503: A year and is responsible for electing or appointing an executive director to the executive board. While the board of governors is officially responsible for approving quota increases, special drawing right allocations, the admittance of new members, compulsory withdrawal of members, and amendments to the Articles of Agreement and By-Laws, in practice it has delegated most of its powers to the IMF's executive board. The board of governors

1144-528: Is "working to foster global monetary cooperation, secure financial stability, facilitate international trade , promote high employment and sustainable economic growth, and reduce poverty around the world." Established in July of 1944 at the Bretton Woods Conference , primarily according to the ideas of Harry Dexter White and John Maynard Keynes , it started with 29 member countries and

1232-416: Is a common goal. The anti-globalization movement opposes trade agreements almost by definition, although some groups normally allied within that movement, such as leftist parties, might support fair trade or safe trade provisions that moderate real and perceived ill effects of globalization . In response to criticism, free trade agreements have increasingly over time come with measures that seek to reduce

1320-473: Is a direct link between the dynamics of macro- and micro-economic parameters such as the evolution of industrial clusters and the GDP's temporal and spatial dynamics. Specifically, the dynamic approach analytically described the main features of the theory of competition summarized by Michael Porter , stating that industrial clusters evolve from initial entities gradually expanding within their geographic proximity. It

1408-554: Is a long run concept and refers to reductions in unit cost as the size of a facility and the usage levels of other inputs increase. Economies of scale is also a justification for economic integration, since some economies of scale may require a larger market than is possible within a particular country — for example, it would not be efficient for Liechtenstein to have its own car maker, if they would only sell to their local market. A lone car maker may be profitable, however, if they export cars to global markets in addition to selling to

1496-933: Is a period of time with no interest rates, through the Extended Credit Facility (ECF), the Standby Credit Facility (SCF) and the Rapid Credit Facility (RCF). Non-concessional loans, which include interest rates, are provided mainly through the Stand-By Arrangements (SBA), the Flexible Credit Line (FCL), the Precautionary and Liquidity Line (PLL), and the Extended Fund Facility. The IMF provides emergency assistance via

1584-645: Is advised by the International Monetary and Financial Committee and the Development Committee. The International Monetary and Financial Committee has 24 members and monitors developments in global liquidity and the transfer of resources to developing countries . The Development Committee has 25 members and advises on critical development issues and on financial resources required to promote economic development in developing countries. Economic integration Economic integration

1672-441: Is that private international capital markets function imperfectly and many countries have limited access to financial markets. Such market imperfections, together with balance-of-payments financing, provide the justification for official financing, without which many countries could only correct large external payment imbalances through measures with adverse economic consequences. The IMF provides alternate sources of financing such as

1760-480: Is the unification of economic policies between different states, through the partial or full abolition of tariff and non-tariff restrictions on trade. The trade-stimulation effects intended by means of economic integration are part of the contemporary economic Theory of the Second Best : where, in theory, the best option is free trade , with free competition and no trade barriers whatsoever. Free trade

1848-419: Is treated as an idealistic option, and although realized within certain developed states, economic integration has been thought of as the "second best" option for global trade where barriers to full free trade exist. Economic integration is meant in turn to lead to lower prices for distributors and consumers with the goal of increasing the level of welfare, while leading to an increase of economic productivity of

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1936-460: Is very hard to produce wine and only moderately difficult to produce cloth. Both are easy to produce in Portugal. Therefore, while it is cheaper to produce cloth in Portugal than England, it is cheaper still for Portugal to produce excess wine, and trade that for English cloth. Conversely, England benefits from this trade because its cost for producing cloth has not changed but it can now get wine at

2024-520: The COVID-19 pandemic . This was in addition to the $ 50 billion fund it had announced two weeks earlier, of which $ 5 billion had already been requested by Iran . One day earlier on 11 March, the UK called to pledge £150 million to the IMF catastrophe relief fund. It came to light on 27 March that "more than 80 poor and middle-income countries" had sought a bailout due to the coronavirus. On 13 April 2020,

2112-730: The Cold War limited the Fund's membership, with most countries in the Soviet sphere of influence not joining until 1970s and 1980s. The Bretton Woods exchange rate system prevailed until 1971 when the United States government suspended the convertibility of the US$ (and dollar reserves held by other governments) into gold. This is known as the Nixon Shock . The changes to the IMF articles of agreement reflecting these changes were ratified in 1976 by

2200-726: The European Union , AfCFTA , and the Eurasian Economic Union ; and proposed for intercontinental economic blocks, such as the Comprehensive Economic Partnership for East Asia and the Transatlantic Free Trade Area . Comparative advantage refers to the ability of a person or a country to produce a particular good or service at a lower marginal and opportunity cost over another. Comparative advantage

2288-632: The Great Depression , countries sharply raised barriers to trade in an attempt to improve their failing economies. This led to the devaluation of national currencies and a decline in world trade. This breakdown in international monetary cooperation created a need for oversight. The representatives of 45 governments met at the Bretton Woods Conference in the Mount Washington Hotel in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire , in

2376-494: The Jamaica Accords . Later in the 1970s, large commercial banks began lending to states because they were awash in cash deposited by oil exporters. The lending of the so-called money center banks led to the IMF changing its role in the 1980s after a world recession provoked a crisis that brought the IMF back into global financial governance. In the mid-1980s, the IMF shifted its narrow focus from currency stabilization to

2464-562: The Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility . Upon the founding of the IMF, its three primary functions were: The IMF's role was fundamentally altered by the floating exchange rates after 1971. It shifted to examining the economic policies of countries with IMF loan agreements to determine whether a shortage of capital was due to economic fluctuations or economic policy. The IMF also researched what types of government policy would ensure economic recovery. A particular concern of

2552-830: The Special Data Dissemination Standard (SDDS). The executive board approved the SDDS and GDDS in 1996 and 1997, respectively, and subsequent amendments were published in a revised Guide to the General Data Dissemination System . The system is aimed primarily at statisticians and aims to improve many aspects of statistical systems in a country. It is also part of the World Bank Millennium Development Goals (MDG) and Poverty Reduction Strategic Papers (PRSPs) . The primary objective of

2640-458: The first Greek bailout that totaled €110 billion, to address the great accumulation of public debt, caused by continuing large public sector deficits. As part of the bailout, the Greek government agreed to adopt austerity measures that would reduce the deficit from 11% in 2009 to "well below 3%" in 2014. The bailout did not include debt restructuring measures such as a haircut , to the chagrin of

2728-415: The 1930s . The IMF formally came into existence on 27 December 1945, when the first 29 countries ratified its Articles of Agreement. By the end of 1946 the IMF had grown to 39 members. On 1 March 1947, the IMF began its financial operations, and on 8 May France became the first country to borrow from it. The IMF was one of the key organizations of the international economic system; its design allowed

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2816-428: The 1940s and 1950s, and the recruitment of staff exposed to new thinking in economics. The IMF provided two major lending packages in the early 2000s to Argentina (during the 1998–2002 Argentine great depression ) and Uruguay (after the 2002 Uruguay banking crisis ). However, by the mid-2000s, IMF lending was at its lowest share of world GDP since the 1970s. In May 2010, the IMF participated, in 3:11 proportion, in

2904-708: The British Empire. The European Economic Community was created to integrate France and Germany's economies to the point that they would find it impossible to go to war with each other. Among the requirements for successful development of economic integration are "permanency" in its evolution (a gradual expansion and over time a higher degree of economic/political unification); "a formula for sharing joint revenues" (customs duties, licensing etc.) between member states (e.g., per capita); "a process for adopting decisions" both economically and politically; and "a will to make concessions" between developed and developing states of

2992-524: The Code of Conduct in the IMF Articles of Agreement, and to provide national economic information. However, stricter rules were imposed on governments that applied to the IMF for funding. The countries that joined the IMF between 1945 and 1971 agreed to keep their exchange rates secured at rates that could be adjusted only to correct a "fundamental disequilibrium" in the balance of payments, and only with

3080-469: The FTA there is a rule of certificate of origin for the goods originating from the territory of a member state of an FTA. A "customs union" introduces unified tariffs on the exterior borders of the union (CET, common external tariffs). A "monetary union" introduces a shared currency. A "common market" add to a FTA the free movement of services, capital and labor. An "economic union" combines customs union with

3168-467: The GDDS is to encourage member countries to build a framework to improve data quality and statistical capacity building to evaluate statistical needs, set priorities in improving timeliness, transparency , reliability, and accessibility of financial and economic data. Some countries initially used the GDDS, but later upgraded to SDDS. Some entities that are not IMF members also contribute statistical data to

3256-523: The IMF in 1980 after losing the support of the then United States President Jimmy Carter and was replaced by the People's Republic of China . However, "Taiwan Province of China" is still listed in the official IMF indices. Poland withdrew in 1950—allegedly pressured by the Soviet Union —but returned in 1986. The former Czechoslovakia was expelled in 1954 for "failing to provide required data" and

3344-425: The IMF is part, are joint managers of this programme, which was approved by the executive directors of the IMF on 15 March 2012 for XDR 23.8 billion and saw private bondholders take a haircut of upwards of 50%. In the interval between May 2010 and February 2012 the private banks of Holland, France, and Germany reduced exposure to Greek debt from €122 billion to €66 billion. As of January 2012 ,

3432-564: The IMF said that it "would provide immediate debt relief to 25 member countries under its Catastrophe Containment and Relief Trust (CCRT)" programme. Not all member countries of the IMF are sovereign states, and therefore not all "member countries" of the IMF are members of the United Nations. Amidst "member countries" of the IMF that are not member states of the UN are non-sovereign areas with special jurisdictions that are officially under

3520-537: The IMF was to prevent financial crises, such as those in Mexico in 1982, Brazil in 1987, the 1997 Asian financial crisis , and the 1998 Russian financial crisis , from spreading and threatening the entire global financial and currency system. The challenge was to promote and implement a policy that reduced the frequency of crises among emerging market countries, especially the middle-income countries which are vulnerable to massive capital outflows. Rather than maintaining

3608-551: The IMF's agreement. Member countries of the IMF have access to information on the economic policies of all member countries, the opportunity to influence other members' economic policies, technical assistance in banking, fiscal affairs, and exchange matters, financial support in times of payment difficulties, and increased opportunities for trade and investment. The board of governors consists of one governor and one alternate governor for each member country. Each member country appoints its two governors. The Board normally meets once

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3696-489: The Rapid Financing Instrument (RFI) to members facing urgent balance-of-payments needs. The IMF is mandated to oversee the international monetary and financial system and monitor the economic and financial policies of its member countries. Accurate estimations require a degree of participatory surveillance. Market sizes and economic facts are estimated using member-state data, shared and verifiable by

3784-486: The Swiss, Brazilian, Indian, Russian, and Argentinian Directors of the IMF, with the Greek authorities themselves (at the time, PM George Papandreou and Finance Minister Giorgos Papakonstantinou ) ruling out a haircut. A second bailout package of more than €100 billion was agreed upon over the course of a few months from October 2011, during which time Papandreou was forced from office. The so-called Troika , of which

3872-405: The United States, to discuss a framework for postwar international economic cooperation and how to rebuild Europe. There were two views on the role the IMF should assume as a global economic institution. American delegate Harry Dexter White foresaw an IMF that functioned more like a bank, making sure that borrowing states could repay their debts on time. Most of White's plan was incorporated into

3960-468: The bank with many multi-currency instruments applied. Engine for such fast and dramatic changes was insufficiency of global capital, while one has to mention obvious large political discrepancies witnessed in 2014–2015. Global economy has to overcome this by easing the moves of capital and labor, while this is impossible unless the states will find common point of views in resolving cultural and politic differences which pushed it so far as of now. In economics

4048-453: The chief economist, was appointed as first deputy managing director, effective 21 January 2022. Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas was appointed chief economist on 24 January 2022. According to the IMF itself, it works to foster global growth and economic stability by providing policy advice and financing to its members. It also works with developing countries to help them achieve macroeconomic stability and reduce poverty. The rationale for this

4136-420: The consequences of these policies for other countries and for the global economy . For instance, The IMF played a significant role in individual countries, such as Armenia and Belarus, in providing financial support to achieve stabilization financing from 2009 to 2019. The maximum sustainable debt level of a polity, which is watched closely by the IMF, was defined in 2011 by IMF economists to be 120%. Indeed, it

4224-452: The country will be able to rectify its macroeconomic and structural imbalances. In the judgment of the IMF, the adoption by the member of certain corrective measures or policies will allow it to repay the IMF, thereby ensuring that the resources will be available to support other members. As of 2004 , borrowing countries have had a good track record for repaying credit extended under the IMF's regular lending facilities with full interest over

4312-418: The detriment of others because they do not bear the full consequences of their actions—is mitigated through conditions rather than providing collateral; countries in need of IMF loans do not generally possess internationally valuable collateral anyway. Conditionality also reassures the IMF that the funds lent to them will be used for the purposes defined by the Articles of Agreement and provides safeguards that

4400-438: The duration of the loan. This indicates that IMF lending does not impose a burden on creditor countries, as lending countries receive market-rate interest on most of their quota subscription, plus any of their own-currency subscriptions that are loaned out by the IMF, plus all of the reserve assets that they provide the IMF. The IMF was originally laid out as a part of the Bretton Woods system exchange agreement in 1944. During

4488-489: The dynamics of trade creation and trade diversion effects, the Pareto efficiency of factors (labor, capital) and value added, mathematically was introduced by Ravshanbek Dalimov. This provided an interdisciplinary approach to the previously static theory of international economic integration, showing what effects take place due to economic integration, as well as enabling the results of the non-linear sciences to be applied to

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4576-399: The dynamics of international economic integration. Equations describing: were successfully applied towards: The straightforward conclusion from the findings is that one may use the accumulated knowledge of the exact and natural sciences (physics, biodynamics, and chemical kinetics) and apply them towards the analysis and forecasting of economic dynamics. Dynamic analysis has started with

4664-399: The economies of its member countries by its use of the fund, as well as other activities such as gathering and analyzing economic statistics and surveillance of its members' economies. The current managing director (MD) and chairperson of the IMF is Bulgarian economist Kristalina Georgieva , who has held the post since 1 October 2019. Indian-American economist Gita Gopinath , previously

4752-565: The end of March 2014, the IMF secured an $ 18 billion bailout fund for the provisional government of Ukraine in the aftermath of the Revolution of Dignity . In late 2019, the IMF estimated global growth in 2020 to reach 3.4%, but due to the coronavirus, in November 2020, it expected the global economy to shrink by 4.4%. In March 2020, Kristalina Georgieva announced that the IMF stood ready to mobilize $ 1 trillion as its response to

4840-455: The final acts adopted at Bretton Woods. British economist John Maynard Keynes , on the other hand, imagined that the IMF would be a cooperative fund upon which member states could draw to maintain economic activity and employment through periodic crises. This view suggested an IMF that helped governments and act as the United States government had during the New Deal to the great depression of

4928-536: The following types: Lists: IMF The International Monetary Fund ( IMF ) is a major financial agency of the United Nations , and an international financial institution funded by 190 member countries, with headquarters in Washington, D.C. It is regarded as the global lender of last resort to national governments, and a leading supporter of exchange-rate stability . Its stated mission

5016-422: The form of policy reform. If the conditions are not met, the funds are withheld. The concept of conditionality was introduced in a 1952 executive board decision and later incorporated into the Articles of Agreement. Conditionality is associated with economic theory as well as an enforcement mechanism for repayment. Stemming primarily from the work of Jacques Polak , the theoretical underpinning of conditionality

5104-498: The goal of reconstructing the international monetary system after World War II . In its early years, the IMF primarily focused on facilitating fixed exchange rates across the developed world. It now plays a central role in the management of balance of payments difficulties and international financial crises. Through a quota system, countries contribute funds to a pool from which countries can borrow if they experience balance of payments problems. The IMF works to stabilize and foster

5192-645: The increasing global relationships of culture , people, and economic activity. With economics crisis started in 2008 the global economy has started to realize quite a few initiatives on regional level. It is unification between the EU and US, expansion of Eurasian Economic Community (now Eurasia Economic Union) by Armenia and Kyrgyzstan. It is also the creation of BRICS with the bank of its members, and notably high motivation of creating competitive economic structures within Shanghai Organization, also creating

5280-424: The industries fall under automotive, oil, or food industries. A trade agreement signed between more than two sides (typically neighboring or in the same region) is classified as multilateral . These face the most obstacles- when negotiating substance, and for implementation. The more countries that are involved, the harder it is to reach mutual satisfaction. Once this type of trade agreement is settled on, it becomes

5368-544: The largest borrowers from the IMF in order were Greece, Portugal, Ireland, Romania, and Ukraine. On 25 March 2013, a €10 billion international bailout of Cyprus was agreed by the Troika , at the cost to the Cypriots of its agreement: to close the country's second-largest bank ; to impose a one-time bank deposit levy on Bank of Cyprus uninsured deposits. No insured deposit of €100k or less were to be affected under

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5456-400: The local market. Besides these economic reasons, the primary reasons why economic integration has been pursued in practise are largely political. The Zollverein or German Customs Union of 1867 paved the way for partial German unification under Prussian leadership in 1871. "Imperial free trade" was (unsuccessfully) proposed in the late 19th century to strengthen the loosening ties within

5544-417: The negative externalities of trade liberalization. There are three different types of trade agreements. The first is unilateral trade agreement, this is what happens when a country wants certain restrictions to be enforced but no other countries want them to be imposed. This also allows countries to decrease the amount of trade restrictions . That is also something that does not happen often and could impair

5632-428: The organization's conditional loans. During the 20th century, the IMF shifted its position on capital controls. Whereas the IMF permitted capital controls at its founding and throughout the 1970s, IMF staff increasingly favored free capital movement from 1980s onwards. This shift happened in the aftermath of an emerging consensus in economics on the desirability of free capital movement, retirement of IMF staff hired in

5720-491: The organization's other member-states. This transparency is intended to facilitate international co-operation and trade. Since the demise of the Bretton Woods system of fixed exchange rates in the early 1970s, surveillance has evolved largely by way of changes in procedures rather than through the adoption of new obligations. The Fund typically analyses the appropriateness of each member country's economic and financial policies for achieving orderly economic growth, and assesses

5808-563: The region. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) was formed in 1967 between the countries of Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand. It was established to promote political partnership and maintain economic stability throughout the region. There are a variety of trade agreements; with some being quite complex ( European Union ), while others are less intensive ( North American Free Trade Agreement ). The resulting level of economic integration depends on

5896-503: The rest of the WTO members. All agreements concluded outside of the WTO framework (and granting additional benefits beyond the WTO MFN level, but applicable only between the signatories and not to the rest of the WTO members) are called preferential by the WTO. According to WTO rules, these agreements are subject to certain requirements such as notification to the WTO and general reciprocity (the preferences should apply equally to each of

5984-409: The signatories of the agreement) where unilateral preferences (some of the signatories gain preferential access to the market of the other signatories, without lowering their own tariffs) are allowed only under exceptional circumstances and as temporary measure. The trade agreements called preferential by the WTO are also known as regional (RTA), despite not necessarily concluded by countries within

6072-409: The sovereignty of full UN member states, such as Aruba , Curaçao , Hong Kong , and Macao , as well as Kosovo . The corporate members appoint ex-officio voting members, who are listed below . All members of the IMF are also International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) members and vice versa. Former members are Cuba (which left in 1964), and Taiwan , which was ejected from

6160-562: The specific type of trade pacts and policies adopted by the trade bloc : Typically the benefits and obligations of the trade agreements apply only to their signatories. In the framework of the World Trade Organization , different agreement types are concluded (mostly during new member accessions), whose terms apply to all WTO members on the so-called most-favored basis (MFN), which means that beneficial terms agreed bilaterally with one trading partner will apply also to

6248-436: The states. There are economic as well as political reasons why nations pursue economic integration. The economic rationale for the increase of trade between member states of economic unions rests on the supposed productivity gains from integration. This is one of the reasons for the development of economic integration on a global scale, a phenomenon now realized in continental economic blocs such as ASEAN , NAFTA , USAN ,

6336-416: The system to balance the rebuilding of international capitalism with the maximization of national economic sovereignty and human welfare, also known as embedded liberalism . The IMF's influence in the global economy steadily increased as it accumulated more members. Its membership began to expand in the late 1950s and during the 1960s as many African countries became independent and applied for membership. But

6424-455: The systems: A 2021 study found that the IMF's surveillance activities have "a substantial impact on sovereign debt with much greater impacts in emerging than high-income economies". IMF conditionality is a set of policies or conditions that the IMF requires in exchange for financial resources. The IMF does require collateral from countries for loans but also requires the government seeking assistance to correct its macroeconomic imbalances in

6512-492: The terms introduced for the change of interregional flow of goods caused by changes in customs tariffs due to the creation of an economic union. He considered trade flows between two states prior and after their unification, and compared them with the rest of the world. His findings became and still are the foundation of the theory of economic integration. The next attempts to enlarge the static analysis towards three states+world (Lipsey, et al.) were not as successful. The basics of

6600-597: The terms of a novel bail-in scheme. The topic of sovereign debt restructuring was taken up by the IMF in April 2013, for the first time since 2005, in a report entitled "Sovereign Debt Restructuring: Recent Developments and Implications for the Fund's Legal and Policy Framework". The paper, which was discussed by the board on 20 May, summarised the recent experiences in Greece, St Kitts and Nevis, Belize, and Jamaica. An explanatory interview with deputy director Hugh Bredenkamp

6688-623: The theory were summarized by the Hungarian economist Béla Balassa in the 1960s. As economic integration increases, the barriers of trade between markets diminish. Balassa believed that supranational common markets, with their free movement of economic factors across national borders, naturally generate demand for further integration, not only economically (via monetary unions) but also politically—and, thus, that economic communities naturally evolve into political unions over time. The dynamic part of international economic integration theory, such as

6776-596: The union. A "coherence" policy is a must for the permanent development of economic unions, being also a property of the economic integration process. Historically the success of the European Coal and Steel Community opened a way for the formation of the European Economic Community (EEC) which involved much more than just the two sectors in the ECSC. So a coherence policy was implemented to use

6864-531: The value added (revenues) of entities of member states interact. The degree of economic integration can be categorized into seven stages: These differ in the degree of unification of economic policies, with the highest one being the completed economic integration of the states, which would most likely involve political integration as well. A "free trade area" (FTA) is formed when at least two states partially or fully abolish custom tariffs on their inner border. To exclude regional exploitation of zero tariffs within

6952-604: The violations. Monitoring by international agencies may be needed to detect non-tariff barriers , which are disguised attempts at creating trade barriers. Trade pacts are frequently politically contentious, as they might pit the winners and losers of an agreement against each other. Aside from their provisions on reducing tariffs, contentious issues in modern free trade agreements may revolve around regulatory harmonization on issues such as intellectual property regulations, labour rights, and environmental and safety regulations. Increasing efficiency and economic gains through free trade

7040-408: The word integration was first employed in industrial organisation to refer to combinations of business firms through economic agreements, cartels, concerns, trusts, and mergers— horizontal integration referring to combinations of competitors, vertical integration to combinations of suppliers with customers. In the current sense of combining separate economies into larger economic regions, the use of

7128-447: Was also shown as being mathematically correct. A qualitative finding of the dynamic method is the similarity of a coherence policy of economic integration and a mixture of previously separate liquids in a retort: they finally get one colour and become one liquid. Economic space (tax, insurance and financial policies, customs tariffs, etc.) all finally become the same along with the stages of economic integration. Another important finding

7216-505: Was analytically found that the geographic expansion of industrial clusters goes along with raising their productivity and technological innovation. Domestic savings rates of the member states were observed to strive to one magnitude, and the dynamic method of forecasting this phenomenon has also been developed. Overall dynamic picture of economic integration has been found to look quite similar to unification of previously separate basins after opening intraboundary sluices, where instead of water

7304-608: Was at this number that the Greek government-debt crisis started in 2010. In 1995, the International Monetary Fund began to work on data dissemination standards with the view of guiding IMF member countries to disseminate their economic and financial data to the public. The International Monetary and Financial Committee (IMFC) endorsed the guidelines for the dissemination standards and they were split into two tiers: The General Data Dissemination System (GDDS) and

7392-481: Was established on January 1, 1989, between the United States, Canada, and Mexico. This agreement was designed to reduce tariff barriers in North America. The Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) was established in 2015 and currently consists of five member states: Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Russia. It is designed to foster economic integration among its member states and promote economic growth in

7480-539: Was first described by David Ricardo who explained it in his 1817 book On the Principles of Political Economy and Taxation in an example involving England and Portugal. In Portugal, it is possible to produce both wine and cloth with less labour than it would take to produce the same quantities in England. However, the relative costs of producing those two goods are different in the two countries. In England, it

7568-488: Was published a few days later, as was a deconstruction by Matina Stevis of The Wall Street Journal . In the October 2013, Fiscal Monitor publication, the IMF suggested that a capital levy capable of reducing Euro-area government debt ratios to "end-2007 levels" would require a very high tax rate of about 10%. The Fiscal Affairs department of the IMF, headed at the time by Acting Director Sanjeev Gupta, produced

7656-590: Was readmitted in 1990, after the Velvet Revolution . Apart from Cuba, the other UN states that do not belong to the IMF are Monaco and North Korea . Liechtenstein became the 191st member on 21 October 2024. Any country may apply to be a part of the IMF. Post-IMF formation, in the early postwar period, rules for IMF membership were left relatively loose. Members needed to make periodic membership payments towards their quota, to refrain from currency restrictions unless granted IMF permission, to abide by

7744-584: Was the "monetary approach to the balance of payments". Some of the conditions for structural adjustment can include: These conditions are known as the Washington Consensus . These loan conditions ensure that the borrowing country will be able to repay the IMF and that the country will not attempt to solve their balance-of-payment problems in a way that would negatively impact the international economy . The incentive problem of moral hazard —when economic agents maximise their own utility to

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