BRETTON WOODS AGREEMENT

Agreement outlining rules and regulations for governing the monetary and exchange rate among the major industrial states worldwide. Signed in 1944, this landmark agreement was created during the UN Monetary and Financial Conference in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire. Major outcomes of the agreement conceived the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD). It also created a fixed exchange rate linked to the US dollar. Currencies were linked to the gold and the IMF can intervene should imbalance of payments arise.