The International Monetary Fund-World Bank Group annual meetings came to a close on 18 October. For the first time, they were held virtually. When the IMF was created in 1944, its main purpose was to manage imbalances in trade flows between member states. Its role has changed considerably since the liberalisation of capital flows and the subsequent collapse of the fixed exchange rate system. Over the past 50 years, the IMF has dedicated much of its attention to helping over-indebted countries put their finances in order. It has done so through emergency loans tied to fiscal policy conditions. Hence the long-running ... (full story)