International Monetary Fund (IMF)

International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a specialised UN Agency conceived in 1944 at United Nations Bretton Woods Conference.
India is one of the founding member of the IMF.
It monitors the economic and financial policies of its member countries.
It provides policy advice to nations for the promotion of international financial stability and monetary cooperation.
It also provides financial support to countries hit by crisis or as precautionary financing to help prevent and insure against crisis.

Some important lending facilities of the International Monetary Fund (IMF)

Stand-By Arrangement: for countries’ external financing needs and to support their adjustment policies with short-term financing.
Flexible Credit Line(FCL): for crisis-prevention and crisis-mitigation lending for countries with very strong policy frameworks.
Standby Credit Facility: to provide financial assistance to low-income countries (LICs) with short-term BoP needs.
Extended Credit Facility for countries with protracted BoP problems.
Precautionary and Liquidity Line: for countries with sound economic fundamentals but with some remaining vulnerabilities that preclude them from using FCL.

The IMF announced that it will provide Sri Lanka a loan of about USD 2.9 billion over a four-year period to help the island nation overcome the unprecedented economic turmoil.