Levels of power · Level 9 of 10

The IMF, World Bank and global finance

The lenders to governments: the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank Group, the Bank for International Settlements and regional development banks such as the EBRD, ADB and AfDB, plus the Paris Club of creditor countries. Their loans come with conditions, and their votes are weighted by how much each country pays in.

What this level decides

• Emergency loans to countries and the conditions attached
• Development loans and grants for projects
• Debt restructuring terms (Paris Club, G20 Common Framework)
• Voting power, by each country's quota or shareholding

Key figures

How it works

The IMF has 191 member countries. Its own pages say a member's quota reflects its size and position in the world economy, and quotas are the primary funding source. Total quotas were SDR 476 billion, about $646 billion, as of 30 April 2025. In December 2023 the Board of Governors approved a 50 percent quota increase under the 16th General Review, which still needs consents from members. A 25-member Executive Board supports the IMF's work.

The World Bank Group says its organisations are owned by the governments of member nations, which have the ultimate decision-making power on policy, financial and membership issues. The IBRD has 189 member countries, IDA 175, IFC 186, MIGA 182 and ICSID 159. Governments govern through the Boards of Governors and the Boards of Executive Directors. To join the Bank, a country must first join the IMF.

The Bank's Board of Directors has 25 Executive Directors. The Bank says it has funded over 15,000 development projects through loans, interest-free credits and grants. The IMF also borrows to supplement quotas: in January 2020 its Executive Board agreed to double the New Arrangements to Borrow to SDR 365 billion, and a 2020 round of bilateral borrowing agreements added SDR 138 billion.

Other global finance bodies work alongside them. The Financial Stability Board says its Plenary is the sole decision-making body and is composed of 59 representatives from 25 jurisdictions, six representatives from four international financial institutions and eight representatives from six international standard-setting, regulatory, supervisory and central bank bodies. People harmed by Bank-financed projects can complain to the Inspection Panel or the Accountability Mechanism.

How to have a say

1. File a complaint (Request for Inspection) if a World Bank-financed project harms you or your community
2. Use the World Bank Accountability Mechanism, which includes the Inspection Panel
3. Read IMF country reports and documents, including Article IV papers, in the IMF eLibrary
4. See how the World Bank's Boards of Governors and Executive Directors are made up, then write to your own government's representative
5. Make a Freedom of Information request to HM Treasury about the UK's positions at the IMF and World Bank

The records you can check

• Every IMF lending arrangement and its conditions
• World Bank projects and loans by country
• Each country's quota and voting share
• Paris Club agreements

Official registers and data

• IMF Members' Quotas and Voting Power
  Official quota and voting-power table for all 191 members.
• IMF eLibrary
  Country reports, policy papers and official IMF publications.
• World Bank Group member countries
  Membership lists for IBRD, IDA, IFC, MIGA and ICSID with dates of joining.
• World Bank Boards of Executive Directors
  The 25 Executive Directors and alternates.
• World Bank Accountability Mechanism
  Independent complaints mechanism for people harmed by Bank-funded projects.
• Financial Stability Board organisation and governance
  Membership and governance of the FSB Plenary.

The UK at this level

• UK compared: debt and growth, from the IMF

The bodies at this level

• African Development Bank

  The African Development Bank Group is a development bank for Africa; its concessional arm, the African Development Fund, gives grants and cheap loans to the poorest African countries. The UK is a shareholder: UK statutory instruments authorise payments of up to £450 million to the Fund's 16th replenishment and up to £110 million to the Bank's capital increase. The AfDB's own website could not be read for this entry, so membership and leadership details are not included.

• Asian Development Bank

  The Asian Development Bank is a development bank based in Manila that lends to and invests in Asia and the Pacific; it committed $29.3 billion from its own resources in 2025 (ADB). It is owned by 69 members, 50 from the region and 19 from outside, including the UK as a founding member. Its President, Masato Kanda, chairs the Board of Directors.

• Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank

  The AIIB is a Beijing-based development bank that finances infrastructure in Asia and beyond; it has 111 approved members and is capitalised at USD 100 billion (AIIB). China holds 26.37% of the voting power and the UK 2.85%, the UK having been a founding member. Its President, Zou Jiayi, also chairs the Board of Directors.

• Bank for International Settlements

  The BIS is a bank owned by 63 central banks, set up in 1930 in Basel, which acts as a bank for central banks and a forum for central bankers and financial supervisors (BIS website). Its Board of up to 18 members includes the Governor of the Bank of England as an ex officio director. It hosts the committees of the 'Basel Process', including the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision.

• Basel Committee on Banking Supervision

  The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision is the primary global standard setter for the prudential regulation of banks, according to its charter. Its 45 members are central banks and bank supervisors from 28 jurisdictions, and its Secretariat is hosted by the Bank for International Settlements in Basel. G10 central bank governors established it in 1974 after the failure of Bankhaus Herstatt. It issued the Basel Capital Accord in 1988, the Basel II framework in 2004 and the Basel III standards in 2010, completed in 2017. The charter states that the Committee has no formal supranational authority and its decisions do not have legal force; it relies on members' commitments to implement standards. It reports to the Group of Central Bank Governors and Heads of Supervision, and decides by consensus.

• European Bank for Reconstruction and Development

  The EBRD is a London-based development bank that invests mainly in private businesses to support the transition to market economies across three continents; it invested a record €16.8 billion in 2025 (EBRD). It is owned by 77 countries, the European Union and the European Investment Bank, each represented on a Board of Governors that delegates most powers to a Board of Directors. Its President is Odile Renaud-Basso.

• European Investment Bank

  The European Investment Bank is the lending arm of the European Union, owned by the 27 EU member states; the EIB Group signed €100 billion of new financing in 2025 (EIB). Its Board of Governors sets general directives, a Board of Directors handles strategy, and a nine-member Management Committee chaired by President Nadia Calviño runs it day to day. The UK left as a shareholder when it left the EU; under the Withdrawal Agreement its paid-in capital is being returned in yearly instalments.

• Financial Stability Board

  The Financial Stability Board is an international body that coordinates national financial authorities and international standard-setting bodies to promote global financial stability. The FSB says it brings together authorities from 24 countries and jurisdictions, international financial institutions, sector regulators and central bank committees, and reaches about 70 other jurisdictions through six Regional Consultative Groups. Its Plenary is the sole decision-making body and decides by consensus. It reports to the G20, to which it delivers monitoring reviews, peer reviews and policy work on topics such as stablecoins, nonbank finance, artificial intelligence and cross-border payments. The FSB was established in April 2009 as the successor to the Financial Stability Forum, and since January 2013 has been a not-for-profit association under Swiss law, seated in Basel and hosted by the Bank for International Settlements. Andrew Bailey, Governor of the Bank of England, chairs it.

• International Monetary Fund

  The IMF is an international organisation of 191 member countries that oversees the international monetary system and lends to members with balance-of-payments problems, usually with policy conditions attached. Each member has one governor on the Board of Governors, usually its finance minister or central bank governor, and day-to-day decisions are taken by a 25-member Executive Board chaired by the Managing Director (IMF factsheet, April 2025). Voting power is based mainly on each member's quota.

• Paris Club

  The Paris Club is an informal group of 22 government creditors, including the UK, that agrees joint debt relief for countries that cannot pay; since 1956 it has treated $616 billion of debt for 102 debtor countries (Paris Club). It has no legal status, takes decisions by consensus, and normally only deals with countries that have an IMF programme. It is chaired and run by officials of the French Treasury.

• World Bank Group

  The World Bank Group lends, grants and guarantees money for development in poorer and middle-income countries; it committed $123.5 billion in fiscal year 2026 (World Bank Group Annual Report 2026). It is owned by 189 member countries, represented by a Board of Governors (usually finance or development ministers), with day-to-day decisions taken by Boards of Directors for each of its institutions. Voting power depends on each country's capital subscription.

Up and down the ladder

Above: G7, G20, Davos and global forums. Below: The UN and global treaty bodies.

Common questions

What does the imf, world bank and global finance decide?

Emergency loans to countries and the conditions attached; Development loans and grants for projects; Debt restructuring terms (Paris Club, G20 Common Framework); Voting power, by each country's quota or shareholding.

Which records show what the imf, world bank and global finance do?

Every IMF lending arrangement and its conditions; World Bank projects and loans by country; Each country's quota and voting share; Paris Club agreements.

How many countries are members of the IMF?

The International Monetary Fund has 191 member countries according to its own pages, including its Executive Board page and its annual report. Its Executive Board has 25 members. The IMF says that quotas, which reflect a member's size and position in the world economy, are the primary source of its funding.

What is an IMF quota?

The IMF says a member's quota reflects its size and position in the world economy, and quotas are the primary source of IMF funding. Total quotas were SDR 476 billion, about $646 billion, as of 30 April 2025. A 50 percent increase approved in December 2023 under the 16th Review still needs member consents.

How many countries belong to the World Bank?

The World Bank Group's member page lists 189 countries in the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, 175 in the International Development Association, 186 in the International Finance Corporation, 182 in MIGA and 159 in ICSID. A country must first join the IMF to become a member of the Bank.

Who runs the World Bank?

The World Bank Group says its organisations are owned by the governments of member nations, which have ultimate decision-making power. Member countries govern through the Boards of Governors and the Boards of Executive Directors. The Board of Directors has 25 Executive Directors who, the Bank says, work daily across the organisation.

How do I complain about a World Bank project?

The Inspection Panel, part of the World Bank Accountability Mechanism, says it is an independent channel for affected people to raise concerns about World Bank-financed projects. It accepts Requests for Inspection online in 16 languages. The Panel reviews complaints from any group of two or more people in the country where the project is located.

What is the Financial Stability Board?

The FSB's own page says its Plenary is its sole decision-making body. It is composed of 59 representatives from 25 jurisdictions, six representatives from four international financial institutions and eight representatives from six international standard-setting, regulatory, supervisory and central bank bodies.

Sources

• What is the IMF? - International Monetary Fund, read 23 October 2026
• IMF Members' Quotas and Voting Power, and IMF Board of Governors, read 23 October 2026
• Where the IMF Gets Its Money - International Monetary Fund, read 23 October 2026
• Resources - IMF Annual Report 2025, read 23 October 2026
• IMF eLibrary, read 23 October 2026
• Member Countries - World Bank Group, read 23 October 2026
• Boards of Directors - World Bank Group, read 23 October 2026
• Boards of Governors - World Bank Group, read 23 October 2026
• What We Do - World Bank Group, read 23 October 2026
• How to File a Complaint (Request for Inspection) - Inspection Panel, read 23 October 2026
• Accountability Mechanism - World Bank, read 23 October 2026
• Organisational Structure and Governance - Financial Stability Board, read 23 October 2026
• How to make a freedom of information (FOI) request - GOV.UK, read 23 October 2026