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Higher School of Economics
Public policy department
The final paper.
«The International Monetary Fund as an actor on the global arena. International
Monetary Fund and the Russian Federation».
Done by:
Student of 2nd master year
Ivan Tischenko
Checked by:
Professor
Nina Belyaeva
Moscow, 2011
Introduction.
The development of globalization in the world economy and the increased
instability of the global monetary system and global financial markets was the
main causes of the rise the role of international financial institutions. Most of such
institutions were established after the Second World War and are now playing a
significant role in the development of cooperation in the field of economic and
financial relations and interstate regulation.
For international financial institutions include the International Monetary
Fund, World Bank, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, Bank for
International Settlements and the regional development banks in Asia, America,
Africa.
The main resource for any country are the financial resources. When their
own savings for investment is not enough, we have to borrow. Lending is one of
the main tools for economic development, at both micro and macro levels. To date,
the earth does not remain the countries that would not have debt. All this reflects
the ongoing process of globalization, when no one country can not remain aloof
from the international flows of goods and capital.
International Monetary Fund (IMF) is currently the main international body
governing international credit policy. This does not mean that it is impossible to
get a loan, bypassing the IMF, but it means that any international lender, one way
or another, takes into account the experience and opinion of the IMF's lending
capacity of a country.
Beginning in the second half of the nineties, the Russian Federation has
become a permanent debtor finance from the IMF.
My work contains a disclosure of all the influence of the International
Monetary Fund on the economy and politics of Russia, underscoring the global
nature of the organization.
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History of the International Monetary Fund.
International Monetary Fund - a specialized UN agency, with headquarters
in Washington.
At Bretton Woods, the UN Conference on Monetary Affairs July 22, 1944
has been developed framework agreements - Charter IMF. The final version of the
agreement the first 29 countries signed December 27, 1945 - the official date of
creation of the IMF. The IMF began operations March 1, 1947 as part of the
Bretton Woods system. In the same year, France took the first loan. Currently, 186
States IMF together, and in its structures operate 2,500 from 133 countries.
The International Monetary Fund is a cooperative organization that unites
the country on a voluntary basis. The purpose of this institute is to conduct
consultations with one another to maintain the stability of the system of buying and
selling of currencies so that payments in foreign currency flowed smoothly and on
time. The members of the IMF believes that the open exchange of views on the
policy that guides government and residents of one country, carrying out payments
to the government and residents of another, it is advantageous to all.
IMF allocates money to its members, who are facing difficulties in
repayment of obligations to other members, on condition that they undertake
economic reforms to eliminate these difficulties for their own good and the good of
others. However, the IMF has no effective levers of intervention in domestic
economic policies of its members. He can not force the government to some of its
members to spend more on schools and hospitals and less - on military
procurement. But it may encourage its members to better utilization of scarce
resources by avoiding the financial excesses. If a country ignores this advice, the
IMF can only try to convince her of the benefits of adopting policies endorsed by
the community as a whole, both in domestic and international affairs.
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Management Structure:
The supreme governing body of the IMF - Governing Council (Eng. Board
of Governors), in which each member country is represented by the manager and
his deputy. This is usually finance ministers or central bankers. In the conduct of
the Council is addressing key issues of the Fund. Managers gather for sessions are
usually once a year, but may meet and vote by mail at any time.
The authorized capital amounts to about 325.5 billion U.S. dollars. Formed
by contributions from Member States .. Given the size of the quota allocated votes
among the member countries in IMF decision-making bodies.
IMF Executive Board selects a five-year term of the Managing Director Managing Director, who heads the staff of the Fund. It must be representative of a
European country. Managing Director from November 2007 to September 2011
was Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn, at now the head IMF - Christine
Lagarde.
Governing Council consists of contributions from Member States. Each
country has expressed in special drawing rights quota, which determines the
amount of the subscription fee on the capital the IMF. Quotas are set based on the
proportion of countries in the world economy. At least 1 time in 5 years is the
revision of quotas. The total share of 25 developed countries is 62.8% of the total
quota in the IMF, including :
EU-30.3%.
U.S. 17.5%;
Japan, 6.3%;
United Kingdom 6.1%;
China 5.1%;
Saudi Arabia 3.3%;
Canada-3.0%;
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Russian largest quota - 5.9 billion, ranked 10th place.
International Monetary Fund, is an instrument in the hands of countries that
implement the main contributions to the structure of the fund. Now the key
managers of the IMF is the United States and the European Union.
In the 1990s, the IMF's role in financial stability Russia has been extremely
high, the total amount allocated to the IMF Russia since 1992.currency amounts to
35.3 billion dollars. The provision of IMF funds associated with the
implementation of borrower countries to certain conditions to reform the state. In
this context, it seems to me an interesting study in its final working mechanisms of
influence of the IMF's policy-making in Russia.
The study of this global policy actor is of particular interest because of the
recently voiced by Russian Prime Minister decision on increasing the share of
Russia in the general fund the IMF. This act is going to Russia to support the
throes of the debt crisis of Europe. We can trace a tendency to increase Russia's
role in the IMF and the Russian authorities try to increase its influence in Europe.
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The influence of IMF on the socio-economic development of Russia.
The story began in November 1991, when Russian reformers led by Yegor
Gaidar had their first consultation with the IMF. Representatives of the Fund
offered to help as much as advice. The IMF has always denied that he was the
initiator or the developer of Russian market reforms, pointing out that it was a local
initiative. June 1, 1991 Russia joined the IMF, and in August she was issued the
first credit stand-by - $ 1 billion already in 1992 in Russia, sometimes there were
some signs of fiscal adjustment, which is always recommended that the IMF to its
members: in some months of the fiscal deficit was clearly less than the
recommended 5% of GDP. Moreover, sometimes there was even a slight decrease
in inflation in October 1992 inflation, before exceeding 90%, dropped to 40%, but
again in November soared to 66%.
In 1993, the IMF urged Russia decisively as possible to fight inflation and
even signed her in May, a kind of "anti-inflationary agreement" committing to
reduce inflation from 17% to 10% per month and reduce subsidies to state
enterprises by the Central Bank of Russia. Reduce inflation failed, but Russia has
received the first tranche of the so-called systemic transformation loan of $ 1.5
billion in 1994, the IMF was presenting Russia large claims for excessive loose
monetary policy, which ended in collapse of the ruble October 11, 1998, and did
not want to do no.
However, the G7 countries intervened and especially the U.S., which
reported directly to grant the loan - had to allocate the second tranche of "systemic
transformation loan" of $ 1.5 billion in 1995, Russia received $ 5.5 billion credit
stand-by c condition in July to reduce the inflation to 1% per month and keep it in
the future, and to reduce the budget deficit to 6.5%. Inflation to reduce the planned
size could not be, but tightening of monetary policy has yielded results, the ruble
began to rise in July and was introduced currency corridor.
The influence of IMF on the processes in the Russian Federation in the mid2000s. In 2007, as a source of borrowed funds the International Monetary Fund
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and World Bank no longer a concern for Russia. Go to the recommendations of
these organizations in Russia have not listened to. The only thing more interesting
to Russian participation in these financial institutions, it is possible to solve the
problem of returning billion of debt owed to it that other country. It was with this
mission set off in 2007 in Washington, the Russian delegation - for the spring
session of the IMF and the WB.
In Russia today, few people remember chronicled the mid-90's, when the
IMF and World Bank loans were the only hope the government on budget
execution. At the end of the last decade, after the 1998 financial crisis, Russia's
debt to foreign debt of 1.1 times the GDP of the country. Then the Russian
negotiators have frequented the headquarters of the IMF with only one purpose - to
achieve a restructuring of our debt to foreign creditors.
In 2007, the situation is different. As follows from the report of the
Committee on Development World Bank and International Monetary Fund, the
major risks to the macroeconomic situation in Russia does not exist, even though
the possibility of increasing the budget expenditures during the election period and
the growth of foreign borrowing by Russian banks. The total amount of foreign
debt on January 1, 2007 was $ 52 billion, or 5.1% of GDP. In 2005, Russia paid off
the debts ahead of schedule to the IMF. Not afraid of Russian Ministry of Finance
and debt to the World Bank - this is the cheapest to maintain debt, to the best of
Russian commitments. As a result, the only help that today the international
financial institutions can provide Russia - a return of debts of third countries of the
Russian Federation, which they, in turn, inherited from the Soviet Union.
Russia, the international financial standards, is one of the world's largest
creditor. The sum of the Soviet debt, which has gone to the balance of the Russian
Ministry of Finance in the early 90s, was approximately $ 150 billion
Thus, the role of Russia in its relations with international financial
institutions in 2006 - 2007's radically changed. Ahead of schedule paid off with a
large part of its debts, it now rightfully stands for improving the efficiency of these
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organizations. In the IMF sees its mission in the formation of a credit fund for the
balance of payments of developing countries and countries that do not have serious
foreign exchange reserves.
Relations between Russia and the IMF at this stage.
Russia will not enjoy the right to receive the grace of the IMF loan, Prime
Minister Vladimir Putin at the Presidium of the Government, held on 4 September
2009. Total country could expect to receive 8.840 billion. According to experts,
Russia in the near future there is no need to use this right to attract the IMF loan.
The current imbalance is covered by the Treasury Reserve Fund. Perhaps in future
years in case of chronic deficits and spent the country's reserves and resorts to its
share in the IMF, but for now this is not necessary.
Conclusion.
With the collapse of world sotssistemy world faced a new phenomenon,
called «transition countries». As a rule, to such countries face a number of similar
challenges to restructure its economy, legislation, government regulation.
Significant part in solving these problems, taking the International
Monetary Fund, which has an active influence on the socio-economic and political
processes in countries borrowing. Measure of its policies in the various countries
with economies in transition, have much in common.
Based on these facts and arguments you can draw some conclusions on the
evaluation of the IMF. On the one hand, IMF loans still easy problem in many
countries, but on the other hand conditions imposed by the IMF are not always
adequate, in terms of economic development in these countries. Most likely, this is
due to the fact that the IMF experts often think in old categories. That is, either
imposing monetarist schemes, or manipulated with the restructuring scheme.
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Many experts recognize the presence of a systemic crisis as the IMF, and in
general throughout the existing system of external financing. So far as the
overriding problem for the IMF may allocate the task of finding a new paradigm of
international lending, as well as the development of new rules.
Speaking about the impact of the World Bank on a global scale, we can say
that the IMF is a global actor. Making loans to developing countries, it provides
the structural adjustment policies in these countries, thereby affecting the
development of the economic environment in a particular country. But these
activities are the International Monetary Fund does not contribute to poverty
reduction in borrowing countries.
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List of references
1.
Камнева Г. Россия обойдется без МВФ // Взгляд – от 3 сентября 2009 г.
2.
Левинцева Н.Н. Международные экономические отношения. – М.: ТК
Велби, 2007.
3.
Минаев С. Конец кредитной истории // Коммерсантъ, 2010. - № 17
4.
Мировая экономика и международные экономические отношения.. Под
ред. Р. И. Хасбулатова. – М.: Гардарики, 2006.
5.
Хмелев М. Россия и МВФ: смена ролей // РИА Новости, от 17 апреля
2011г.
6.
www.premier.gov.ru
7.
www.gazeta.ru
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