Requesting 200 words response to the following post using at least three substantive peer-reviewed scholarly journal articles (different than in the below post) to provide those substantive replies. You may utilize only the main article as a reference.
Key Term and Interest Reasoning
Upon completing the reading for Chapter Five, Financial Markets and Monetary Systems in Cross Border Commerce, the subsection explaining the International Monetary Fund was appealing after learning the institution was implemented due to the Brenton Woods Agreement and was created to help preserve the global monetary system. (Satterlee, 2018). I wish to further understand how the International Monetary Fund operates and whether it is a significant factor in helping developing nations achieve better economies. Hopefully, during this research, I will also explain how the International Monetary Fund receives capital and whether the organization makes decisions independently or is influenced by the funding contributors.
Explanation of the Key Term
The International Monetary Fund was one of the outcomes of the Bretton Woods Agreement following World War II. Which was initially intended to promote international trade help develop an exchange system to achieve this goal. The role of the International Monetary Fund is more of a supervisory role when dealing with the exchange rates between member countries. It uses its position also to influence member countries to place national currency into other countries by having the convertibility rates free to do so (Satterlee, 2018).
Simply the International Monetary Fund was intended to be the organization to create organization and uniformity in the global monetary system. Other roles of the International Monetary Fund are providing capital loans to specific developing nations (Satterlee, 2018). The main objective was to increase the standard of living among its citizens, boosting the market and increasing the global economy overall. Generally, with the implementation of the International Monetary Fund, the interests of the undeveloped nations have now become the priorities for developed countries that wish to continue to reap the benefits of a prosperous global economy (Satterlee, 2018).
Why Do Countries Request Assistance from International Monetary Fund? An Empirical Analysis
In this article, researchers wished to understand why specific countries seek assistance from the International Monetary Fund and whether these loans and programs offered are helpful to boost the economy in these countries. The International Monetary Fund was constructed to be an independent internal organization that could provide financial assistance to member countries if needed and creates stability and economic growth globally, which is accomplished by its 190 member countries (Siddique et al., 2021). Generally, many of the countries that choose an IMF lending program have poor macroeconomic conditions and poor fiscal management resulting in large amounts of debt (Siddique et al., 2021).
When member countries experience domestic or global crises, the IMF is responsible for intervening and providing financial support and offering various lending plans to the member countries (Siddique et al., 2021). There are currently 50 countries connected with lending programs from the IMF, and hundreds of billions of dollars being allocated to these member countries to ensure success, which may be a positive for some. Still, critics of the IMF feel that the institution is not transparent enough and that these lending programs are not meeting the intended goals of successfully improving these developing economies (Siddique et al., 2021).
Lastly, the researchers recognized that the IMF is a financial assistance organization that can help countries experiencing economic vulnerabilities. The IMFs temporary support can address current deficits or debts owed by administering policy plans to grow the economy. Still, the country has to stay diligent if they want to become prosperous (Siddique et al., 2021). Typically, countries that are considered middle-income countries are positively affected by the IMFs influence within the first year and continue to grow in the following three years.
For the lower-income countries impact from the IMF is insignificant until year three of participation, which can be harmful to those counties because they are already experiencing a poor economy and possibly poor political leadership (Siddique et al., 2021). Therefore, it seems as though the IMF can be better perceived as a tool that analyzes certain economic factors and provides a plan to help these countries succeed. However, it is ultimately up to the nations and their leaders to implement these plans to become prosperous and develop a strong economy.
Discussion
The International Monetary Fund has been an organization focused on increasing the prosperity of the global economy overall. In general, the concept of helping member nations regardless of whether they are a world leader, or a developing nation is good. Countries that can help these developing nations are being charitable but are ultimately helping their economy in the future. Once these countries become stable, they can continue to increase imports and exports with other countries, leading to expanding global economies.
Recently with the increase of world interest rates and the emergence of frequent economic crises has provided the IMF with a significant role on the global stage. The capital flows between countries are typically more positive during economic prosperity. For the IMF regulating the exchange rates and balancing funding are aspects that can continue these positive flows (Wilczyski, 2011). Countries that have developed a relationship with the United States are more likely to obtain IMF support. The United States has a large quota share between the member nations of the IMF. Therefore, its economic impact and influence globally have also been shown to influence IMF decisions (Mody & Saravia, 2013).
Regarding developing nations, those countries with low foreign direct investment and poor credibility are generally overlooked by the IMF. However, those with a seemingly better economic foundation and rule and policies in place are more likely to receive funding (Arabaci & Ecer, 2014). Some researchers have discovered that countries that sign an agreement with the IMF typically experience lower foreign direct investment opportunities due to the strict guidelines the IMF places on the counties to receive funding (Arabaci & Ecer, 2014).
In recent years, the IMF has attempted to increase focus on funding to raise living conditions and improve the social impact the IMF has globally. Even though the United States has some influence with the IMF, many of the other member countries have not exhibited the same interest in increasing funding for social issues (Reinold, 2016). Which over time has hurt the overall image of the IMF, but over time the organization has been increasingly more transparent and more receptive to criticism. Hopefully, the organization can help countries improve living conditions along with strengthening the overall economy effectively in the future.
References
Arabaci, M. C., & Ecer, S. (2014). The international monetary fund (IMF) and the catalytic effect: Do IMF agreements improve access of emerging economies to international financial markets? The World Economy, 37(11), 15751588.
Mody, A., & Saravia, D. (2013). The response speed of the international monetary fund. International Finance, 16(2), 189211.
Reinold, T. (2016). The path of least resistance: Mainstreaming Social Issues in the international monetary fund. Global Society, 31(3), 392416.
Satterlee, B. C. (2018). Cross Border Commerce (3rd ed.). Synergistics International Inc.
Siddique, I., Hayat, M. A., Naeem, M. Z., Ejaz, A., Spulbar, C., Birau, R., & Calugaru, T. (2021). Why do countries request assistance from international monetary fund? An empirical analysis. Journal of Risk and Financial Management, 14(3), 98.
Wilczyski, R. (2011). Global financial governance: A perspective from the international monetary fund. Contemporary Economics, 5(1), 4.
