Switzerland wants to join the 152 countries in the International Monetary Fund, which plays a key role in the world's financial system, fund officials said Wednesday. Switzerland, concerned for its traditional neutrality, has been reluctant to join international organizations. In 1982, a government plan to join the fund was postponed after a Swiss voters defeated a proposal to join the United Nations. However, the Swiss government has had close informal relations with the fund. The fund's Board of Directors will consider the application, and a fund spokesman said formalities could be completed by the end of the year. All members of the fund also join its sister organization, the World Bank, the biggest source of loans to the Third World. Applications also are pending from Czechoslovakia and Bulgaria; China, Poland, Hungary and Romania already are members. The Soviet Union has said it would like to join, but the Bush administration has objected.
