International Monetary Fund

General information

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a specialised agency of the United Nations. It was founded in 1944 at the same time as the World Bank. The IMF is based in Washington, D.C. and currently has 189 member countries. The IMF aims to promote trade between countries across the world and to help eliminate barriers to trade. Another important task is lending money to member countries facing economic crisis to help them overcome their balance of payments difficulties.

Christine Lagarde was born in Paris, France on 1 January 1956. She was appointed Managing Director of the IMF in 2011. Ms Lagarde studied Social Law in Aix-en-Provence, France, and English Language and Literature and Labour Law at University Paris X-Nanterre. She practised as a lawyer in an international law firm in Paris, of whose Executive Committee she was a member between 1999 and 2004. Between 1995 and 2002 she was a member of the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) and in 2003 a member of the Euro-Atlantic Action Commission in Washington, D.C. From 2005 to 2007 Christine Lagarde was the French Minister for Foreign Trade, in 2007 Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries, and from 2007 to 2011 she was Finance and Economy Minister. She succeeded John P. Lipsky as Managing Director of the IMF on 5 July 2011.

Further information
International Monetary Fund website

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