Global Economic Governance
WTO has adapted to rising economic weight of developing countries.
Two key institutions - the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and International Monetary Fund (IMF), are central to global economic and financial governance. A third institution - the World Bank is often included in the list but its substantive significance is now limited, except perhaps in Africa.
Most countries now have ample access to private capital and the Bank is now a substantial net recipient of funds from the developing countries.
The IMF, which is designed to oversee the international financial system, came into existence in 1945. The WTO, which oversees the flow of trade in goods and services and the implementation of internationally-agreed intellectual property rights regime, technically came into existence much more recently in 1995. But the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), which came into force in 1948, determined its essential architecture.