International Monetary Fund and the World Bank

I Watch the video  and fill in the gaps with the words from the list. There are some words you don’t need to use.

Monetary; economist; confused; linked; Conference; currencies; abused; difference; failed; street; money; links; deal; agree; hotel; institutions; Depression; trade policies; Washington; monetary; economics; London; representing; names

If you’re 1)______ by the difference between the International 2)______ Fund, the IMF, and the World Bank. Well, you’re not the only one. Famed 3)______ John Maynard Keynes, who was a founding father of both 4)______, said that he was confused just by their 5)______. 

The IMF and World Bank are closely 6)______. So close that their headquarters are across the 7)______ from each other here in 8)______. So what’s the 9)______ between them?

It all started at this 10)______ in New Hampshire in July 1944, where 44 countries gathered for the Bretton Woods 11)______. The goal of the conference was to 12)______ on a new framework for the international 13)______ system, which is the rules and institutions that keep the global economy running smoothly. After World War II, most people agreed that the old system had 14)______. It had seen the Great 15)______, unfair 16)___  ___ and unstable 17)______. After three weeks of heated negotiations at Bretton Woods, especially between Keynes who was 18)______ the United Kingdom and Harry Dexter White, the U.S. Treasury representative, a 19)______ was reached.

 II Match the words from two columns to make collocations used in the text. Use four collocations in your sentences.

  

1.	difference	a)	system
2.	famed	b)	economist
3.	founding	c)	smoothly
4.	goal of	d)	the conference
5.	new	e)	policies
6.	international monetary	f)	father
7.	global	g)	currencies
8.	run	h)	negotiations
9.	unfair trade	i)	between
10.	unstable	j)	deal
11.	heated	k)	framework
12.	reach a	l)	economy

III Watch the video and answer the questions.

1 When were the IMF and the World Bank founded?

2 Who was the founding father of these organizations?

3 Why did economists decide to create these organizations?

4 Where are the headquarters of the IMF and the World Bank situated?

5 What economic problems did people experience after World War II?

6 Who took part in the negotiations to create the IMF and the World Bank? What countries did they represent?

IV Watch the video again and choose the correct option to complete the sentences.

The agreement/agreed/arranged created the IMF and the International Bank for Destruction/Restructured/Reconstruction and Development, soon to be known as the World Bank. Each institution/university/college was given a distinct role. The IMF’s job was to oversee a system of fixed unchained/exchange/changed rates, which tied the value of a country’s curry/currency/currently to the U.S. dollar, which was pegged to old/gold/bold. The main purport/support/purpose of this was to make sure/cure/allure exchange rates stayed unable/debatable/stable to encourage global trade. The IMF was also tasked with providing short-term loans/load/upload to countries struggling to pay their debates/debts/deaths.

 Meanwhile, the main owl/goal/gold of the World Bank was to give financial insisted/assistance/persistence to countries, mainly in Europe, that needed to replay/rebuild/builder after the war. The roles/paroles/trolls of both the IMF and the World Bank have changed a lot since the days of Bretton Woods. President Nixon unpegged the U.S. holler/all are/dollar from gold in 1971, essentially dissolving the mixing/fixed/fixation exchange rate system that the IMF oversaw. Since then the IMF has taken on a bigger role fighting financial cried/crises/iced around the world. It keeps tabs on the globe/global/total economy and puts economic police/policies/politicians in place in member countries. The World Bank focuses its reformed/supports/efforts on development and reducing poor/dignity/poverty. It provides funding and sorcery/resources/resourceful in projects in some of the poorest countries in the world. Both institutions include 189 member counties/country/countries but the IMF has around 2,700 employed/employees/employment, compared to the World Bank’s muff/staff/bluff of 10,000.

V Match the words from two columns to make collocations used in the text. Use four collocations in your sentences.

1.	distinct	a)	purpose
2.	fixed	b)	loan
3.	pegged	c)	exchange rates
4.	main	d)	to pay their debts
5.	make	e)	sure
6.	encourage	f)	assistance
7.	short-term	g)	role
8.	struggling	h)	countries
9.	give financial	i)	tabs
10.	fight financial	j)	efforts
11.	keep	k)	to gold
12.	member	l)	poverty
13.	focus	m)	global trade
14.	reduce	n)	crises around the world

VI Watch the video and answer the questions.

1 What was the original name of the World Bank?

2 What did the IMF oversee?

3 What were the fixed exchange rates based on?

4 What was the point to measure the value of US dollar in the past? Is it still the same?

5 What did the IMF try to encourage?

6 What was the original role of the World Bank?

7 What is the IMF trying to fight today?

8 What is the role of the World Bank today?

9 How many people work for the IMF? Does the World Bank have more staff?

VII Watch the video and fill in the gaps in the text.

 The IMF is 1)______ mainly by quotas, basically subscription fees, from 2)______ countries. It receives about $675 billion in quotas, with the 3)______, Japan, China and Germany contributing the most. The World 4)______ is financed mostly by issuing bonds to global 5)______. The group's lending commitments reached nearly $59 6)______ in fiscal year 2017. The IMF has committed $160 billion under its 7)______ lending arrangements.

Today the IMF’s biggest borrowers include 8)______, Ukraine, Portugal and Pakistan. The 9)______ where the World Bank is running the most 10)______ are in Africa and East Asia. One thing the IMF and World Bank have in 11)______ is that they both have some opponents. 12)______ point to the conditions attached to their loans, saying they don’t always address the specific 13)______ issues within a country. The IMF has come under fire for continuing to bail out Greece even as the 14)______ has failed to clean up its 15)______. Human rights 16)______ have criticized the World Bank for ignoring the environmental and social impacts of some of its projects in 17)______ like Ethiopia or Myanmar. But the IMF and World Bank say they promote 18)______ economic stability, they make countries less vulnerable to crises, promote higher living 19)______ and provide vital help to countries that 20)______ it. 

VIII Match the words from two columns to make collocations used in the text. Use four collocations in your sentences.

1.	funded by	a)	investors
2.	subscription	b)	attached to loans
3.	issue	c)	bonds
4.	global	d)	group
5.	fiscal	e)	common
6.	have in	f)	year
7.	conditions	g)	impact
8.	come under	h)	economic stability
9.	human rights	i)	quotas
10.	environmental	j)	impact
11.	social	k)	fee
12.	promote global	l)	fire

IX Watch the video and answer the questions.

1 How is the IMF funded? Who funds it?

2 How is the World Bank financed?

3 What countries are the IMF’s biggest borrowers?

4 Where does the World Bank have most of its projects?

5 Who are the opponents of the IMF and the World Bank? Why do they criticise the World Bank?

6 What are the problems with the IMF loans?

7 What do the IMF and the World Bank try to promote? What countries do they try to help?

X Fill in the gaps with the prepositions.

around

by

on

in

in

on

by

across

of

for

between

from

in

by

of

in

to

to

to

in

under

on

1.    The group lent nearly $59 billion ______fiscal year 2017.

2.    The World Bank is financed mostly ______issuing bonds ______global investors.

3.    The IMF had to oversee a system ______fixed exchange rates.

4.    The IMF also gave short-term loans ______countries that had problems paying their debts.

5.    The headquarters of the IMF and World Bank are ______the street ______each other ______Washington.

6.    The main purpose ______this control was to make sure exchange rates stayed stable and encourage global trade.

7.    The World Bank focuses ______development and reducing poverty.

8.    The IMF is funded ______quotas from member countries.

9.    One thing the IMF and World Bank have ______common is their opponents.

10.Today the IMF fights financial crises ______the world.

11.The IMF and World Bank were created during the Bretton Woods Conference. Economists and politicians wanted  to agree ______a new framework ______the international monetary system.

12.It keeps tabs ______the global economy.

13.The World Bank gave financial assistance ______countries that needed to rebuild after the war.

14.The IMF has come ______fire for continuing to bail out Greece when  the country has failed to clean up its finances. 

15.Many people are confused ______ the difference ______the International Monetary Fund, the IMF, and the World Bank.

16.It funds projects ______some of the poorest countries ______the world.

XI Put the sentences from Task X in the logical order.

XII OVER TO YOU.  Describe the relations between the IMF and the World Bank and your country. Is your country a contributor? Does it borrow money? What economic issues does the IMF help the country to solve? What are the problems with such loans? What projects does the World bank have in your country? What is your opinion of the role and influence of the IMF and the World Bank on the economy of your country?