IMF and The World Economy…

The IMF is an international organization of 184 member countries. It was established to promote international monetary cooperation, exchange stability, and orderly exchange arrangements; to foster economic growth and high levels of employment; and to provide temporary financial assistance to countries to help ease balance of payments adjustment. Address: 700 19th St. NW, Washington, DC 20431.

The work of the IMF is of three main types. First: Surveillance. Surveillance involves the monitoring of economic and financial developments, and the provision of policy advice, aimed especially at crisis-prevention. Second: Balance of Payments. The IMF also lends to countries with balance of payments difficulties, to provide temporary financing and to support policies aimed at correcting the underlying problems; loans to low-income countries are also aimed especially at poverty reduction. Third: Technical Assistance. The IMF provides countries with technical assistance and training in its areas of expertise.

Rodrigo de Rato y Figaredo

Managing Director, IMF

Rodrigo de Rato assumed office as Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund on June 7, 2004. This followed his selection by the Executive Board of the IMF, on May 4, 2004, to serve as Managing Director and Chairman of the Executive Board.

Prior to taking up his position at the IMF, Mr. de Rato was Vice President for Economic Affairs and Minister of Economy for the Government of Spain, a post to which he was appointed in May 1996. In his capacity as Minister of Economy, Mr. de Rato was also Governor for Spain on the Boards of Governors of the IMF, the World Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank, the European Investment Bank, and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. He regularly attended the European Union's Economics and Finance Ministers meetings, and represented the EU at the Group of Seven Finance Ministers meeting in Ottawa, Canada, in 2002, when Spain held the EU Presidency. He was also in charge of foreign trade relations for the Government of Spain, and represented Spain at the World Trade Organization's ministerial meetings in Seattle, United States, in 1999, in Doha, Qatar, in 2001, and Cancún, Mexico, in 2003. He was a member of Spain's parliament from 1982 to 2004.

Mr. de Rato earned a law degree in 1971 from the Universidad Complutense in Madrid, and a Master of Business Administration from the University of California at Berkeley in 1974. In 2003, he earned a PhD in Economics from the Universidad Complutense.

Mr. de Rato is the ninth Managing Director of the IMF. He directly succeeded Horst Köhler, who resigned from the IMF on March 4, 2004. Mr. de Rato, a Spanish national, was born in Madrid, Spain on March 18, 1949.