Abstract
The International Monetary Fund was established to manage international payments post-Second World War. The gold exchange standard re-established current account convertibility in the industrialized nations and oversaw rapid growth of international trade. After that standard collapsed in 1971 the IMF ran stabilization programmes for developing countries, with mixed success. The World Bank was set up to provide medium-term loans at concessional interest rates for (post-war) reconstruction and to develop capital-poor areas. In 1979 it initiated programme lending with conditions to promote economic adjustment. Conditionality has been under-enforced but increasingly loans go to countries that show commitment to liberal economic reforms.
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Toye, J. (2018). International Financial Institutions (IFIs). In: The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-349-95189-5_2638
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-349-95189-5_2638
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