International Monetary Fund

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is an international organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., of "188 countries working to foster global monetary cooperation, secure financial stability, facilitate international trade, promote high employment and sustainable economic growth, and reduce poverty around the world." Formed in 1944 at the Bretton Woods Conference, it came into formal existence in 1945 with 29 member countries and the goal of reconstructing the international payment system. Countries contribute funds to a pool through a quota system from which countries experiencing balance of payments difficulties can borrow money. As of 2010, the fund had SDR476.8 billion, about US$755.7 billion at then-current exchange rates.

Through the fund, and other activities such as statistics-keeping and analysis, surveillance of its members' economies and the demand for self-correcting policies, the IMF works to improve the economies of its member countries. The organization's objectives stated in the Articles of Agreement are: to promote international monetary cooperation, international trade, high employment, exchange-rate stability, sustainable economic growth, and making resources available to member countries in financial difficulty.

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IMF (disambiguation)

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is an international organization.

IMF may also refer to:

Entertainment

IMF (file format), a file format used in video games

Impossible Missions Force, a fictional secret espionage agency in the Mission: Impossible television and film series

International Music Feed, a music video television network

Internationale Medien und Film, see Intermedia (production company)

Science and technology

Immunofluorescence Labeling, a method used in immunology and cytology

Inframammary fold, in anatomy

Initial mass function, in stellar astronomy

Intelligent Message Filter, a Microsoft anti-spam technology for Exchange/Outlook

Intermolecular forces, non-bonding electrostatic forces between molecules

Interoperable Master Format, in cinema, a file-based master format for movies, standardized by SMPTE

Interplanetary magnetic field, in space

Intramuscular fat, in anatomy

Other uses

International Metalworkers' Federation, a global union federation

Internationale Maifestspiele Wiesbaden, International May Festival

IMF (file format)

IMF is an audio file format created by id Software for the AdLib sound card for use in their video games. The default filename extension is also "imf". The abbreviation stands for "id music file" or "id's music format".

The format is similar to MIDI, in that it defines musical notes, and does not support sampled digital audio for sound effects. IMF files store the actual bytes sent to the AdLib's OPL2 chip, which uses FM synthesis to produce audio output. The format is based on the AdLib command syntax, with a few modifications. Due to the limited features and relatively low sound quality, modern games no longer use IMF music.

Once extracted from a game, IMF files can be played with special sound libraries which emulate AdLib cards. One of the most popular ones is AdPlug, which can be used, for instance, through its Winamp plugin.

Games

A large number of songs in id Software's games were composed by Bobby Prince in IMF format. Besides id Software, some other game developers like Apogee Software also used this format to add music to their games. Games using IMF music include: Bio Menace, Blake Stone: Aliens of Gold, Blake Stone: Planet Strike, Catacomb 3-D, Commander Keen 4-6, Corridor 7, Cosmo's Cosmic Adventure, Duke Nukem II, Major Stryker, Monster Bash, Operation Body Count, Spear of Destiny, and Wolfenstein 3D.