Skip to content

Latest commit

 

History

History
36 lines (28 loc) · 2.67 KB

international-financial-institutions.md

File metadata and controls

36 lines (28 loc) · 2.67 KB
Raw
Error in user YAML: (<unknown>): mapping values are not allowed in this context at line 5 column 10
---
title: international financial institution
date: 2005-10-17 23:21
category: terminology
slug: ifi
summary: : financial institutions that have been established (or chartered) by more than one country
---

International financial institutions (IFIs) are financial institutions that have been established (or chartered) by more than one country. The most prominent IFIs are creations of multiple nations, although some bilateral financial institutions (created by two countries) exist and are technically IFIs. Although IFI owners or shareholders are most commonly national governments, occasionally other international institutions and organizations figure as shareholders. IFIs are are subjects to international law.1

The best-known IFIs were established after World War II to assist in the reconstruction of Europe and to provide cooperative international mechanisms for managing the global financial system, namely the institutions comprising the World Bank Group [International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), International Development Association (IDA), International Finance Corporation (IFC), Multilateral Guarantee Agency (MIGA), and International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID)] and the IMF.1

Many IFIs are multilateral development banks (MDBs)1, and as such are major sources of financial and technical support for developing countries (e.g. via grants, loans and 'technical assistance' interventions) [most MDBs share a mission of combating poverty]. In principle, these investments aim to facilitate economic growth and maintenance of social well-being in developing countries In practice, IFI approaches to economic growth has historically produced enormous debt among developing countries, unfairly favored wealthy and politically powerful elites, and offered few safeguards to protect the environmental, social, and human rights of citizens in the face of large-scale development. Choice of how such investments are structure is largely by the major shareholders of each institution—rather than by borrowers.2 3

Notes & Citations

Footnotes

  1. Wikipedia. "International Financial Institutions" ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  2. Center for Global Development. "International Financial Institutions" ↩

  3. Global Greengrants Find. "International Financial Institutions" ↩