This article explains the role of the three important international organizations, namely, World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, and the World Trade Organization in facilitating trade.

The excerpts of the functions and objectives are taken from their respective websites.

International Monetary Fund (IMF)

The purposes of the IMF are clearly expressed in Article I of its constitution, the Articles of Agreement:

• To promote international monetary cooperation
• To facilitate the expansion and balanced growth of international trade
• To promote exchange stability
• To assist in the establishment of a multilateral system of payments
• To give confidence to members by making the general resources of the Fund temporarily available to them under adequate safeguards
• To shorten the duration and lessen the degree of disequilibrium in the international balances of payments of members

World Bank

The World Bank is a vital source of financial and technical assistance to developing countries around the world.

We are not a bank in the ordinary sense but a unique partnership to reduce poverty and support development. We comprise two institutions managed by 188 member countries: the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) and the International Development Association (IDA). The IBRD aims to reduce poverty in middle-income and creditworthy poorer countries, while IDA focuses exclusively on the world’s poorest countries. These institutions are part of a larger body known as the World Bank Group.

Together these two institutions provide low-interest loans, interest-free credits and grants to developing countries for a wide array of purposes that include investments in education, health, public administration, infrastructure, financial and private sector development, agriculture, and environmental and natural resource management.