World Bank and IMF are monetary institutions that cannot be differentiated. This is evident by the difficulty which the founding father John Maynard Keynes admitting the confusion by names during an inaugural meeting held for the IMF. They are collectively known as Bretton Woods Institutions that act as twin intergovernmental pillars that focus on supporting the structure of the financial and economic order of the world. In the two organizations there creation was due to a need to ensure the division of labor (Harrigan 112). Both the bank as well as IMF are directed and owned by member nations’ governments. Besides, both institutions are concerned with the world economic issues; this is established through strengthening and broadening the economies of countries that are members of the institutions.
Moreover, the two institutions normally hold annual meetings that are joined with extensive media coverage. In addition to this point, they jointly have their headquarters in Washington, D. C, and as such, they have access to similar facilities which include a library. The institutions further exchange economic data regularly, they in most cases present seminars that are joined, more often they hold informal meetings, and even sometimes send out occasionally joint missions to nations that are members.
Regardless of these similarities, the World Bank and International Monetary Fund remain distinct (Johnson 84). The main difference is that World Bank functions primarily as a development institution, and on the other hand, International Monetary Fund functions as a cooperative institution whose main purpose is to ensure that member nations maintain a payment and receipt system that is orderly (Prince and Porter 92). Each institution has a distinct structure, a different purpose, gets its funding from varying sources, offer assistance to varying categories of members, and finally, they endeavor to achieve different targets and goals via methods odd to itself.
Work Cited
Prince, Danforth and Porter, Darwin. (2010). Frommer’s Spain. New York: John Wiley & Sons
Harrigan, James. (2003). Handbook of International Trade. New York: John Wiley & Sons. reprint
Johnson, E. Omotunde. (2000). Financial risks, stability, and globalization. USA: International Monetary Fund.