Monetary System of Capitalism, form of organisation of monetary relations embracing domestic monetary and credit circulation and the sphere of international settlements in the capitalist countries. It emerged initially within the boundaries of individual countries, but as the world capitalist market (see World Market, Capitalist) evolved, it expanded into a world monetary system based on gold. The gold standard, i. e., a monetary system based on gold in the role of universal equivalent, helped ensure the stability of money circulation, the unrestricted exchange of national currencies and the free flow of capital from country to country. As imperialist contradictions heightened, the crisis of the capitalist monetary system (see Monetary Crisis) set in, as seen in the collapse of the gold standard and the introduction of paper money. Now gold, which no longer performs the functions of a medium of circulation and a means of payment, continues to underlie the world capitalist monetary system, since it has retained its functions of a measure of value, means of hoarding, and world money. The gold reserve is an important way of regulating the rate of exchange of capitalist currencies. The restrictions that the imperialist countries freely impose on the export of gold and the use of the dollar and the pound sterling as key (reserve) currencies have resulted in gold being used to a lesser degree in international settlements. The growing circulation of paper money has enabled the capitalist countries to resort to emission to defray expenses and has sharply accelerated the development of inflation, which is widely used to intensify the exploitation of the working people. Typical of the monetary system of imperialism is the greater interference by the capitalist state in the sphere of international settlements and domestic money circulation. State involvement in monetary relations became especially pronounced after World War II, when currency restrictions in the interest of monopolies were applied on a much wider scale than before, state banks began to play a much greater role, and devaluation became the norm. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, both dominated by the USA, play a large role in the monetary system of imperialism, which is characterised by chronic deficits in the balances of payments, the increasing unevenness in the distribution of gold and 231 currency reserves, and the systematic declines in the currency exchange rates of the major capitalist countries. Attempts by the IMF to utilise special drawing rights (SDR) as a new means of international settlement that would replace not only the dollar, but gold as well, have had no tangible effect in stabilising the monetary system.