## Statement by the Managing Director on Strategic Directions in the Medium-Term Budget

_Policy Papers, April 12, 2008_

## Source details

**Canonical URL:** [Statement by the Managing Director on Strategic Directions in the Medium-Term Budget](https://www.imf.org/en/publications/policy-papers/issues/2016/12/31/statement-by-the-managing-director-on-strategic-directions-in-the-medium-term-budget-pp4243)

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## Bibliographic details
- Published: April 12, 2008
- Series: Policy Papers

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### Summary
- The Fund was founded at the close of the Second World War to avoid the human devastation that too often follows economic disasters.
- While specifics change across eras, the core dynamic remains: economic shock is transmitted to political and social convulsion.
- Looking ten or twenty years beyond current budgetary and staffing concerns, the Fund must maintain focus on its raison d'être: delivering economic analysis and multilateral collaboration to ensure financial stability and prosperity for all, thereby avoiding the tragedies that follow their absence.

### Context and long-term perspective
- Founding purpose: Prevent human devastation from economic disasters originating in the post–Second World War period.
- Evolution of shocks:
  - historical example: war reparations
  - contemporary examples: reversals in capital flows; financial collapses from asset market bubbles
  - contrast: asset market bubbles versus hyperinflations
- Time horizon emphasized: "ten or twenty years" beyond immediate budgetary and staffing preoccupations.

### Key findings and implications
- Core dynamic unchanged: economic shock → political and social convulsion.
- Institutional imperative:
  - Deliver rigorous economic analysis.
  - Foster multilateral collaboration.
  - Ensure financial stability and prosperity for all.
- Strategic warning: Budgetary and staffing debates should not obscure the Fund’s fundamental mission.

### Publication and access notes
- Publication date: April 12, 2008
- The IMF eLibrary offers over 25,000 IMF publications in multiple formats.

*Source: Statement by the Managing Director on Strategic Directions in the Medium-Term Budget (April 12, 2008).*

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_Source: https://www.imf.org/en/publications/policy-papers/issues/2016/12/31/statement-by-the-managing-director-on-strategic-directions-in-the-medium-term-budget-pp4243_