Thomas Helbling, Deputy Director, Asia and Pacific Department, IMF

The Bretton Woods system is a very important part of the international monetary system. The founding mission of the IMF continues and is being adjusted and evolved according to the changing situation.

The founding purpose of the IMF was to provide stability to the global financial system, promote international trade, sustainable economic growth, and job creation; in addition, to provide temporary assistance to member countries in crisis. The functions of the IMF are still ongoing, but the global economic system and the situations of various countries have changed. To keep the Bretton Woods system effective, we need to interpret the mission of the IMF in a new way.

The current global economic situation has a lot of uncertainties. The IMF has started to pay attention to the spillover effects brought about by the current situational changes and has a kind of early warning mechanism. The IMF is also focusing on the impact of international trade, industrial policies on trade, external factors affecting industrial policies, and the issue of market failures. Ultimately, we must get the member countries together to find a consensus to solve the above problems.

The IMF membership has also expanded, with more and more countries joining the IMF. Multilateralism is currently facing many challenges, and fragmentation brought by geopolitics is a big challenge, making it increasingly difficult to find consensus with traditional methods. However, there is some consensus on the most fundamental issues, such as the issue of sovereign debt restructuring, in which most economies participate. In the field of international trade, the convening power of international organizations is also very important. Multilateral international organizations like the IMF and the World Bank bring people to the negotiating table to find common views and solutions.