On December 27, 1945, the IMF was established at the United Nations Monetary and Financial Conference, held at Bretton Woods, New Hampshire. At its birth, it was to oversee stability in international monetary affairs and to facilitate the expansion of world trade. Also created to aid these purposes was the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (World Bank). Both were specialized agencies of the United Nations, and membership in the World Bank required countries to first be members of the IMF. The World Bank was given control over long-term financing for nations in need, while the IMF's responsibility was to monitor exchange rates, provide short-term

During the mid 1980's the lending operations of the Fund increased dramatically when stand-by arrangements, usually lasting for a period of two to three years, were extended for longer periods due to the debt crisis. Through the Structural Adjustment Facility or the Enhanced Structural Adjustment Facility facilitated these extended arrangements along with other medium-term programs. These revisions, otherwise called a stabilization program or structural adjustment program, are known as conditionality. International reserves, foreign borrowing, external arrears, the budget deficit, and quantified targets or ceilings for bank credit are all programs associated with this condition. Also included with this list are statements of policies that members intend to follow. As more and more developing countries adopted structural adjustment programs, conditionality came under intense analysis. This occurred in the 1980's and eventually many were unable to meet the terms of the agreement. The focus of the IMF on the industrial economies was being criticized for lack of care and concern for the well being of the developing economies. The Fund, commercial banks, and creditor nations in the late 1980's brought about a set of plans to reduce the debt and debt service payments of the debtor nations. New reduction guidelines we

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