Difference between the International Monetary Fund and World Bank – IMF vs World Bank
People sometime confuse the World Bank with the Internation Monetary fund (IMF), which is also setup at the Bretton Woods Conference in 1944.
The fundamental difference between IMF and World Bank is this:
The Bank is primarily a development institution; the IMF is a cooperative institution that seeks to maintain an orderly system of payment and receipts between nations. Each has a different purpose, a distinct structure, receives its funding from different sources, assists different categories of members, and strives to achieve distinct goals through methods peculiar to it. While the World Bank provides support to developing countries, the IMF aims to stabilize the international monetary system and monitors world’s currencies.
International Monetary Fund IMF vs World Bank
| International Monetary Fund | World Bank |
| Oversees the International monetary system. | Seeks to promote the economic development of world’s poorer countries. |
| Promotes exchange stability and orderly exchange relations among its member countries. | Assists developing countries through the long-term financing of development projects and programs. |
| Assist all members – both industrial and developing countries – that find themselves in the temporary balance of payment in difficulties by providing short to medium term credits. | Provides to the poorest developing countries whose per capita GNP is less than $ 865 a year special financial assistance through the International Development Association (IDA). |
| Supplements the currency reserves of its members through the allocation of SDRs (Special Drawing Rights); to date SDR 21.4 billion has been issued to member countries in proportion to their quotas. | Incourages Private enterprises in developing countries through its affiliates, the International Finance Corporation (IFC). |
| Draws its financial resources principally from the quota subscriptions of its member countries. | Acquires most of its financial resources by borrowing on the international bond market. |
| Has at its disposal fully paid-in quotas now totalling SDR 145 billion (about $215 billion) | Has an authorized capital of $184 billion, of which members pay in about 10 percent. |
| Has a staff of 2300 drawn from 182 member countries | Has a staff of 7000 drawn from 180 member countries. |
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