The International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, collectively known as the Bretton Woods Institutions, are very similar international organizations that are often mistaken for each other. However, there are subtle differences between them. Below is a brief attempt at pointing out those differences, starting from their histories.

History of the IMF

According to the IMF website:

“During the Great Depression of the 1930s, countries attempted to shore up their failing economies by sharply raising barriers to foreign trade, devaluing their currencies to compete against each other for export markets, and curtailing their citizens' freedom to hold foreign exchange. These attempts proved to be self-defeating. World trade declined sharply, and employment and living standards plummeted in many countries.

“This breakdown in international monetary cooperation led the IMF's founders to plan an institution charged with overseeing the international monetary system—the system of exchange rates and international payments that enables countries and their citizens to buy goods and services from each other. The new global entity would ensure exchange rate stability and encourage its member countries to eliminate exchange restrictions that hindered trade.

“The IMF was conceived in July 1944, when representatives of 45 countries meeting in the town of Bretton Woods, New Hampshire, in the northeastern United States, agreed on a framework for international economic cooperation, to be established after the Second World War. They believed that such a framework was necessary to avoid a repetition of the disastrous economic policies that had contributed to the Great Depression.

“The IMF came into formal existence in December 1945, when its first 29 member countries signed its Articles of Agreement. It began operations on March 1, 1947. Later that year, France became the first country to borrow from the IMF.

“The IMF's membership began to expand in the late 1950s and during the 1960s as many African countries became independent and applied for membership. But the Cold War limited the Fund's membership, with most countries in the Soviet sphere of influence not joining.”


History of the World Bank

The history of the World Bank mirrors that of the IMF. Along with the IMF, it was conceived at the Bretton Woods conference as the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD). As the original name implies, it was set-up to provide funds to aid countries in their post-WWII reconstruction efforts. Today, the World Bank is made up of the IBRD and the International Development Agency (IDA).

https://www./laymans-terms-differences-between-imf-world-bank-nnawetanma?trk=prof-post

Nice!
For all those job hunting.May this month be ur breakthrough in Jesus name!
A crate of Origin for Arsenal thrashing Chelsea today.

Organizational Structure of the IMF

The IMF is chaired by a Managing Director, who is almost always from Europe. The IMF’s website says,

“The IMF is led by a Managing Director, who is head of the staff and Chairman of the Executive Board. The Managing Director is assisted by a First Deputy Managing Director and three other Deputy Managing Directors. The Management team oversees the work of the staff and maintains high-level contacts with member governments, the media, non-governmental organizations, think tanks, and other institutions.”


Organizational Structure of the World Bank

The World Bank is chaired by a President who has always been from the United States of America. According to the World Bank’s official website:

“The World Bank is like a cooperative, made up of 188 member countries. These member countries, or shareholders, are represented by a Board of Governors, who are the ultimate policymakers at the World Bank. Generally, the governors are member countries' ministers of finance or ministers of development. They meet once a year at the Annual Meetings of the Boards of Governors of the World Bank Group and the International Monetary Fund.

“The governors delegate specific duties to 25 Executive Directors, who work on-site at the Bank. The five largest shareholders, France, Germany, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States appoint an executive director, while other member countries are represented by 20 elected executive directors.

“The World Bank Group president chairs meetings of the Boards of Directors and is responsible for overall management of the Bank. The President is selected by the Board of Executive Directors for a five-year, renewable term.”


Next in line after the President are the two Managing Directors (MD Chief Operating Officer and MD World Bank Group Chief Financial Officer), followed by the bank’s Corporate Secretary (who also doubles as the President’s Special Envoy), the three Senior Vice Presidents and the several Vice Presidents in that order.

The World Bank is a much bigger organization than the IMF. While the IMF has a staff strength of only about 2500 people, the World Bank boasts of over 7000 permanent and temporary staff.

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Roles and Responsibilities of the IMF

The IMF is mandated to:

Keep track of the global economy and the economies of its member countries. “The IMF oversees the international monetary system and monitors the financial and economic policies of its members. It keeps track of economic developments on a national, regional, and global basis, consulting regularly with member countries and providing them with macroeconomic and financial policy advice.”
Provide technical assistance to member countries. “To assist mainly low- and middle-income countries in effectively managing their economies, the IMF provides practical guidance and training on how to upgrade institutions, and design appropriate macroeconomic, financial, and structural policies.”
Lend to member countries. “The IMF provides loans to countries that have trouble meeting their international payments and cannot otherwise find sufficient financing on affordable terms. This financial assistance is designed to help countries restore macroeconomic stability by rebuilding their international reserves, stabilizing their currencies, and paying for imports—all necessary conditions for relaunching growth. The IMF also provides concessional loans to low-income countries to help them develop their economies and reduce poverty.”


Roles and Responsibilities of the World Bank

As previously mentioned, the World Bank is made up of the IBRD and the IDA. The functions of the IBRD are:

To end extreme poverty
To boost shared prosperity


“It seeks to achieve these goals primarily by providing loans, guarantees, risk management products, and expertise on development-related disciplines, as well as by coordinating responses to regional and global challenges.”


The IDA, on the other hand, is

“the largest multilateral source of concessional financing and the main instrument for pursuing the World Bank Group’s twin goals of ending extreme poverty and boosting shared prosperity in a sustainable manner in the world’s poorest countries. IDA’s funding supports countries’ efforts to increase economic growth, reduce poverty, and improve the living conditions of the poor.”


In summary, the IMF is to a great extent an economic think tank that sometimes functions as a development bank, while the World Bank is to a great extent a development bank that sometimes functions as an economic think tank. The World Bank's primary aim is assisting poor countries develop by giving them loans, expert advice and technical support; while the IMF is more concerned with policing the global economy and formulating policies that will create stability and forestall major economic crises.

https://www./laymans-terms-differences-between-imf-world-bank-nnawetanma?trk=prof-post

Let me ask from my ngozi because I think she is a share holder in one of them.

.

Great tips right there.

OK.

They are like sisters with one father the UN

they are all criminals

Quite insightful

How are the World Bank and the IMF part of "corporate globalization"?

This would be helpful in my exam.

Wow, thanks.

Ok Thanks..

Quite insightful

wonderin if una de finish reading d post b4 commentn hmm, nawa ooo Anyway,i need a job der,can any1 help?

munchfani:
they are all criminals

You don't have to comment; you know that, right?

I would read later. But op, can u explain d difrence wit d use of pictures?

I'll like to know the difference between Aso Rock and Aso Villa.

Wao
Educating

MzNelly:


You don't have to comment; you know that, right?

they are criminals...what do you knw?

In summary, the IMF provides lending to countries suffering from balance of payment crisis like Nigeria did in the 80s when oil prices collapsed.In return for the lending, the IMF requires that the borrowing country adheres to its conditionalities which often include:

1) Structural reform, i.e., deregulation and privatisation
2) Fiscal reform,i.e., reducing budget deficits by cutting spending

The World Bank on the other hand lends money to developing countries at low interest rates to support development projects such as infrastructural investment, expansion of access to healthcare and education.

The world bank and IMF are nothing but neo-colonial instruments to keep on exploiting third world countries. They've done more harm than good in most countries. A world bank staff by name Joseph Stiglitz was once so frustrated and annoyed by the exploitation that he resigned his job, and was able to reveal their 4 steps to poverty. See below for details.

A Typical Example of How the World Bank and IMF Made Ghana Poorer.
http://www.africason.com/2014/08/typical-example-of-how-world-bank-and.html

How The World Bank and IMF Control Poor Nations
http://www.africason.com/2014/08/how-world-bank-and-imf-control-nations.html

IMF and World Bank Are Major Cause of Poverty in Africa.
http://www.africason.com/2014/08/imf-and-world-bank-are-major-cause-of.html

Poor Countries Have Paid More Money to IMF and World Bank Than They Borrowed
http://www.africason.com/2014/08/poor-countries-have-paid-more-money-to.html

Revealed!!. World Bank and IMF's 4 Steps To Poverty - by renegade world bank staff!.
http://www.africason.com/2014/08/world-bank-and-imfs-4-steps-to-poverty.html

How World Bank and IMF Riped-Off Poor African Countries.
http://www.africason.com/2014/08/how-world-bank-and-imf-rip-off-poor.html

World Bank Structural Adjustment Program (SAP) Destroyed African Economies.
http://www.africason.com/2014/08/world-bank-structural-adjustment.html

World Bank and IMF; Agent of Poverty or Development?
http://www.africason.com/2014/08/world-bank-and-imf-agent-of-poverty-or.html

The World Bank and The Development Delusion.
http://www.africason.com/2014/08/the-world-bank-and-development-delusion.html

IMF and World Bank: Puppets of Few Rich Nations.
http://www.africason.com/2014/08/imf-and-world-bank-puppets-of-few-rich.html

IMF and World Bank: Neo-Colonial Tool to Exploit Third World Countries.
http://www.africason.com/2014/08/imf-and-world-bank-neo-colonial-tool-to.html

The IMF and World Bank Help Keep Africa Dependent on More Loan.
http://www.africason.com/2014/08/the-imf-and-world-bank-help-keep-africa.html

IMF Misleads the World With Rhetorics and PR on Poverty Reduction in Africa.
http://www.africason.com/2014/10/imf-rhetorics-and-pr-on-poverty.html

munchfani:
they are criminals...what do you knw?

Go and sleep jhoor

Ok

musicwriter:
The world bank and IMF are nothing but neo-colonial instruments to keep on exploiting third world countries.

I concur

Thank you Op. This is educating ... God bless Nairaland !!!

I have always wanted to know the difference between the two but so lazy or not challenged enough to Google it !!!

J

MzNelly:


Go and sleep jhoor

i dey vex wit u, send ur mobile digit

Nice one..