International Monetary Fund begins its work

On 27 December 1945 in Washington D.C. the International Monetary Fund (IMF) begins its work as a special agency of the United Nations. Its establishment goes back to resolutions adopted at the Bretton Woods Conference (New Hampshire) of July 1944, at which groundbreaking decisions on the reconstitution of international trade and the restructuring of international monetary and financial arrangements were made under the auspices of the United States. The promotion of international cooperation in monetary policy, expansion of world trade, stabilisation of exchange rates, granting of credits as well as supervision of member states’ monetary policies become the duties and responsibilities of the IMF.

© 24476 UN/DPI The participants at the Bretton Woods conference, 1944