IMF governance

The supreme body of power of the IMF is its Board of Governors, which consists of one Governor - usually the Minister of Finance or Governor of the central bank - from each of the IMF's 191 member countries. All Governors meet once each year at the IMF-World Bank Annual Meetings in autumn.

The primary advisory committee of the Board of Governors is the International Monetary and Financial Committee, which was created to monitor the development of the international monetary system during the period between the Annual Meetings. The Committee meets twice a year, in spring and in autumn.

The standing executive body of the IMF is the Executive Board, which is composed of 25 Directors. According to the Articles of Agreement, the 5 countries, which have the biggest quota (the USA, Japan, Germany, Great Britain and France), are allowed to appoint their own Executive Director. Saudi Arabia, as the country that has lent the IMF the most money, China and Russia (both having sufficiently votes to appoint one) also have their own Directors. The rest of the Directors are elected by constituencies. A constituency is usually a group of member countries of similar interests, geographical location, ethnic or cultural background, and economic and political orientations. Estonia participates in the activities of the IMF via the Nordic-Baltic Constituency.

The IMF also has its Managing Director, who is Chairman of the Executive Board and manages the work of the IMF personnel.

Each member country of the IMF has a quota, the size of which is equal to their contribution ("capital subscription") to the IMF. The quota determines the voting right of the country, as well as the extent of using the IMF's financial resources in case of a balance of payments crisis. Countries with the greatest voting right are the USA (16.49%), Japan (6.14%), Germany (5.31%), Great Britain (4.03%), and France (4.03%).

The quota is expressed by a Special Drawing Right (SDR). The value of the SDR is based on a basket of four key international currencies: US dollar, euro, Japanese yen, and pound sterling.

The Estonian quota is SDR 243.6 million or approximately EUR 303.3 million. The Estonian voting right is 0.08% of the total votes.

Upon entry into force of the 16th general review of quotas approved by the Board of Governors in 2023, the Estonian quota will be raised by 121.8 million SDRs to 365.4 million SDRs, amounting to 0.05% of the total IMF quotas. The Estonian voting right will stay at 0.08% of the total votes.