The IMF's decision-making process

The basis for the IMF's decision-making process is the size of the subscriptions paid by the member countries. Subscriptions are known as quotas. The quotas are determined by a country's calculated relative size (economic position) in the world economy. The quotas determine the member countries' potential to borrow from the IMF, as well as their voting power on the IMF's Executive Board and Board of Governors. The United States has the largest share of votes, at 16.76 per cent, followed by Japan at 6.24 per cent, Germany at 5.81 per cent, and the UK and France at 4.29 per cent each. Denmark's quota contribution results in 0.78 per cent of the total votes.

The highest decision-making body of the IMF is the Board of Governors, to which each of the 187 member countries appoints a representative, usually the finance minister or the governor of the central bank. The Board of Governors meets once a year.

Under the Board of Governors is an advisory committee, the International Monetary and Financial Committee (IMFC), comprising 24 members, likewise ministers and governors of central banks. All IMF member countries are represented in the IMFC, either individually or in groups (constituencies). The IMFC advises on the overall guidelines for the work of the IMF and usually meets twice a year.

The day-to-day management of the IMF's operations is handled by the Managing Director (Christine Lagarde) according to guidelines from the Executive Board. The Managing Director is the Chairman of the Executive Board and submits the Staff's proposals for decision in the Board. The 24 members of the Executive Board (Executive Directors) represent all IMF member countries, either individually or in constituencies according to the same principle as for the IMFC. The Board usually meets several times each week.