Few benefit from global financial crises but the International Monetary Fund - one of Washington's most prominent denizens - is part of this exclusive group. As the world's leading financial firefighter, it has accumulated power and influence at a startling pace over the past six months. And April's meeting, when representatives of its 185 members met in DC to discuss the fund's role and developments in the global economy, may well be seen as a milestone in its history.rnThe turnaround has been dramatic. Barely a year ago, the IMF seemed likely to fade into irrelevance. Demand for emergency loans from member nations had slumped. Increasingly, emerging nations were gaining access to international capital markets and the chances were that they would never need the IMF again. As international capital flows soared, the IMF's lending resources failed to keep pace and it looked set to become merely a well-staffed think tank with a glorious past.
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