ARMENIAN PRIME MINISTER, HEAD OF IMF MISSION DISCUSS PROSPECTS OF COOPERATION

PanARMENIAN.Net
10.02.2010 18:13 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Armenian Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan received
a delegation from the International Monetary Fund, led by the head
of IMF mission in Armenia Mark Lewis , press office of the Armenian
government reported. Welcoming the guest, the Armenian prime minister
described the economic situation in Armenia and short-and medium-term
development prospects.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is an international organization
that oversees the global financial system by following the
macroeconomic policies of its member countries, in particular those
with an impact on exchange rates and the balance of payments. It
is an organization formed with a stated objective of stabilizing
international exchange rates and facilitating development.[3] It
also offers highly leveraged loans, mainly to poorer countries. Its
headquarters are inWashington, D.C., United States.

The IMF’s influence in the global economy steadily increased as it
accumulated more members. The number of IMF member countries has more
than quadrupled from the 44 states involved in its establishment,
reflecting in particular the attainment of political independence
by many developing countries and more recently the collapse of the
Soviet bloc. The expansion of the IMF’s membership, together with
the changes in the world economy, have required the IMF to adapt in
a variety of ways to continue serving its purposes effectively.

In 2008, faced with a shortfall in revenue, the International Monetary
Fund’s executive board agreed to sell part of the IMF’s gold reserves.

On April 27, 2008, IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn
welcomed the board’s decision of April 7, 2008 to propose a new
framework for the fund, designed to close a projected $400 million
budget deficit over the next few years. The budget proposal includes
sharp spending cuts of $100 million until 2011 that will include up
to 380 staff dismissals.

At the 2009 G-20 London summit, it was decided that the IMF would
require additional financial resources to meet prospective needs of
its member countries during the ongoing global financial crisis. As
part of that decision, the G-20 leaders pledged to increase the IMF’s
supplemental cash tenfold to $500 billion, and to allocate to member
countries another $250 billion via Special Drawing Rights.