ABSTRACT
The Articles of Agreement of the IMF (hereafter the Fund) state that the promotion of trade, the increasing of levels of employment and real income and the development of productive resources are to be the primary objectives of economic policy (Article I). While the Fund's major area of concern may in practice be balance-of-payments disequilibrium, the policies it recommends to reduce the degree and duration of external and internal imbalances must be set within the context of achieving and maintaining satisfactory rates of economic growth. In general, therefore, the Fund aims at assisting its member countries to establish conditions that would yield balance-of-payments viability, price stability and a growth rate that would support a steady improvement in living standards.
