The IMF has three main activities: surveillance, financial assistance, and technical assistance.
Surveillance. Each year, the IMF sends economists to each of its member countries to analyze the country’s economic situation. The team examines fiscal and monetary policy, exchange rate, general macroeconomic stability, and any related policies, such as labor policy, trade policy, and social policy (such as the pension system). This process is known as an Article IV consultation, after the section authorizing it in the Articles of Agreement. The purpose of such consultation is to provide an outside check on national decisions that might have an affect on the international economic system.