IMF Annual Report 2012 - Working Together to Support Global Recovery

All of the IMF’s member countries are represented on its Executive Board, which discusses the national, regional, and global consequences of each member’s economic policies. This Annual Report covers the activities of the Executive Board and IMF management and staff during the financial year May 1, 2011, through April 30, 2012.

The main activities of the IMF include • providing advice to members on adopting policies that can help them prevent or resolve a financial crisis, achieve macroeconomic stability, accelerate economic growth, and alleviate poverty; • making financing temporarily available to member countries to help them address balance of payments problems, that is, when they find themselves short of foreign exchange because their payments to other countries exceed their foreign exchange earnings; and • offering technical assistance and training to countries, at their request, to help them build the expertise and institutions they need to implement sound economic policies.

The IMF is headquartered in Washington, D.C., and, reflecting its global reach and close ties with its members, also has offices around the world.