About the Bank - Who We Are

International Economic Cooperation: International Monetary Fund (IMF)¹

The IMF is an international financial institution established in 1944 to ensure the stability of the international monetary system. The mission of the IMF is accomplished in three ways:

keeping track of the global economy and the economies of member countries (surveillance);
providing financing to countries with balance of payments difficulties (lending); and
giving practical help to members in terms of technical assistance and training (capacity development).

The IMF is currently headed by Managing Director Ms. Kristalina Georgieva, who is head of the staff and Chairperson of the Executive Board. The Managing Director is appointed by the Executive Board for a renewable term of five years and is assisted by four Deputy Managing Directors. The IMF is governed by 24 members of the Executive Board, representing a single country or groups of countries.

Membership

The IMF has a near universal membership of 190 countries, which is composed of advanced economies, emerging markets and low-income countries. Membership in the IMF is a prerequisite to membership in other global/regional financial institutions such as the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank. More details about the membership of the IMF (including quota, voting power, and current Board of Governors) may be accessed from the IMF website.

Philippines-IMF Relations

The Philippines has been a member of the IMF since 27 December 1945. The Philippines is represented in the IMF through the Board of Governors, which is the highest decision-making body of the IMF and consists of one Governor and one Alternate Governor from each member country (usually the Finance Minister or the Central Bank Governor). In accordance with the designation signed by the President of the Republic of the Philippines, BSP Governor Benjamin E. Diokno serves as the Philippine Governor to the IMF while Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez serves as the Alternate Governor. The Board of Governors of the IMF usually meet twice a year during the Spring Meetings in April and the Fall/Annual Meetings in October.

Representation in the Constituency Office. The Philippines is part of the Southeast Asia Voting Group (SEAVG) Constituency Office, which is composed of 13 member countries including the 10 ASEAN member states and 3 neighboring countries. Representation in the SEAVG facilitates regional convergence of views on policies and surveillance and intensifies the networking arrangements of the members in regional cooperation activities and financial safety nets. Under the current rotation scheme, the representation of Executive Director in the SEAVG is allocated among the ASEAN5 countries. The Philippines will be able to nominate an Executive Director in the IMF for the period September 2027 to September 2029.

Quota and Voting Power

Most resources of the IMF are provided by member countries, primarily through their payment of quotas. Under the 14th General Review, the quota of the Philippines in the IMF increased by 100 percent from SDR1,019.3 million to SDR2,042.9 million, which accounts for about 0.43 percent of the total quotas in the IMF. In terms of voting power, the Philippines has 21,893 votes or about 0.44 percent of the total voting power in the IMF.

Philippines/BSP Participation in Financial Arrangements. The Fund can supplement its quota resources through borrowing in cases when its current firepower might fall short of members' needs. The Philippines/BSP is an active participant in the Fund’s financing facility to help ensure global financial stability:

• Financial Transactions Plan (FTP) – the FTP is a currency exchange arrangement between the IMF and selected member countries that are considered to have strong external position. The Philippines participated in the FTP since August 2010 and has made disbursements to countries such as Portugal, Ireland, Greece, Moldova, and Ukraine.keeping track of the global economy and the economies of member countries (surveillance);

• New Arrangements to Borrow (NAB) – the NAB is a credit arrangement between the IMF and a group of member countries and institutions, which serves as a second line of defense after quota resources. The BSP is a NAB participant since January 2011 with a maximum contribution of SDR680 million (about US$1 billion). Participation in the NAB earns interest for the BSP at the SDR interest rate.

• Bilateral Borrowing Agreements (BBA) – the BBA is a credit arrangement between the Fund and a group of member countries and institutions, which serves as the third line of defense after quota and NAB resources. The BSP is securing domestic approval to participate in the 2020 BBA of the IMF.

Surveillance of the IMF. The IMF conducts surveillance of economic and financial policies in order to identify potential risks to stability and recommend appropriate policy adjustments needed to sustain economic growth and promote financial and economic stability. This process takes place at the global, regional and country levels.

• Global surveillance – the IMF publishes the World Economic Outlook (WEO), Global Financial Stability Report (GFSR) and Fiscal Monitor (FM), which provides growth forecasts and flags risks to financial and fiscal policies. The full reports, including analytical chapters on pressing issues are published twice a year (in April and October of each year) while shorter updates to the full reports are published during the interim period (in January and July of each year).

• Regional surveillance – the IMF also publishes the Regional Economic Outlook (REO) for the Asia Pacific region, which provides a closer look at the prospects, risks and challenges specific to the countries in the Asia Pacific region.

• Country surveillance – the IMF conducts Article IV consultation missions with each member countries on an annual basis to examine growth, risks and challenges, and policy responses. The findings of the IMF Team are usually published as a Staff Report, in consultation with the authorities. The IMF also conducts its Financial Sector Assessment Program (FSAP) in collaboration with the World Bank to gauge the stability and soundness of the financial sector and to assess its potential contribution to growth and development.

The IMF Team regularly conducts Article IV consultations with the Philippine authorities. The latest IMF Staff Report for the Philippines, which highlights the key findings and assessment of the IMF mission, may be accessed from the IMF website. In light of the travel restrictions during the pandemic, the IMF Team conducted several briefings with the National Government agencies which provided the venue for frank and candid discussions of real, fiscal, monetary, external and financial issues that could affect the country’s growth and development prospects.

Capacity Development (CD). The IMF provides CD in terms of technical assistance (TA) and training at the request of member countries and tailored to specific needs. The Philippines is a regular recipient of IMF CD on various topics such as central bank communication, public finances, monetary and financial policies, macroeconomic frameworks and tools, legal frameworks and statistics, among others.

Link to the IMF Website

More information about the IMF on its lending, surveillance and capacity development to member countries may be obtained from the IMF website at: https://www.imf.org/en/home

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¹ Information updated as of: 4 February 2021

​​​​​​​​​International Economic Cooperation: International Monetary Fund (IMF)​1

​Membership​

​Philippines-IMF Relations

​Quota and Voting Power

​Link to the IMF Website

International Economic Cooperation: International Monetary Fund (IMF)¹

Membership

Philippines-IMF Relations

Quota and Voting Power

Link to the IMF Website