Nauru becomes 189th member of IMF, World Bank

The Republic of Nauru, a tiny South Pacific island nation in Pacific Ocean became the 189th member of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank i.e. Bretton-Woods institutions.
Nauru had applied for membership in the Washington-based IMF and World Bank in April 2014. Its initial subscription quota for IMF will be of SDR (Special Drawing rights) 2 million or about $2.81 million. It will be the second smallest member of the Fund, after Tuvalu.
Benefits to Nauru

• By joining the World Bank: The island country gains access to financial support, technical support and special expertise to deal with Pacific area issues, such as water and sanitation and disaster risk management amid the threat of climate change and rising sea levels.
• By joining the IMF: Nauru can benefit from the IMF’s crisis lender’s advice on managing government finances and monetary policy.

Before Nauru, the last country to join the World Bank and IMF as 188th member was South Sudan in April 2012.

About Republic of Nauru

• Nauru is a tiny island country in Micronesia, northeast of Australia. It is the smallest sovereign state in the world after the Vatican City in terms of both population and area.
• It has a population of about 10,500 and a land area of about 8 square miles. The Australian dollar is its currency or legal tender.
• It had joined United Nations (UN) in 1996 as the world’s smallest independent republic.

Month: Current Affairs - April, 2016