IMF - what is it? should it exist forever?

I was chancing around some new sites on my reader when a question popped up, and frankly I didn't even know where to start, so here's my little trek:

Original post: Should the IMF behave like a sovereign growth fund?

Well, I don't really understand what the IMF does so off to Wikipedia. "The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is an international organization that oversees the global financial system by observing exchange rates and balance of payments, as well as offering financial and technical assistance. Its headquarters are located in Washington, D.C., USA." Wikipedia

And "Typically the IMF and its supporters advocate a Keynesian approach. As such, adherents of supply-side economics generally find themselves in open disagreement with the IMF. The IMF frequently advocates currency devaluation, criticized by proponents of supply-side economics as inflationary. Secondly they link higher taxes under "austerity programmes" with economic contraction.

Currency devaluation is recommended by the IMF to the governments of poor nations with struggling economies. Supply-side economists claim these Keynesian IMF policies are destructive to economic prosperity.

That said, the IMF sometimes advocates "austerity programmes," increasing taxes even when the economy is weak, in order to generate government revenue and balance budget deficits, which is the opposite of Keynesian policy. These policies were criticised by Joseph E. Stiglitz, former chief economist and Senior Vice President at the World Bank, in his book Globalization and Its Discontents.[8] He argued that by converting to a more Monetarist approach, the fund no longer had a valid purpose, as it was designed to provide funds for countries to carry out Keynesian reflations." Wikipedia

Ok, then took me to an older post by Marginal Revolution asking the question Should we shut down the IMF? "Many critics argue that Bretton Woods has gone away and the world has no current financial crises. What is the IMF to do? Plus the IMF's management of crises can be counterproductive and create moral hazard."

I also spent a few minutes making sure I understood the difference between the IMF and the World Bank, which I believe is thus: The IMF works to allow countries to borrow to maintain stability of currencies ... the World Bank allows grants and loans for "developement" that in theory would eliminate poverty or other social malaise. I'll be honest the libertarian in me was struck with a giant ..... Who cares. They obviously aren't accomplishing a ton, and in many sectors of the world they are propping up non-democractic regimes.

Until further reading on the matter, I am bent toward abolishing and shuttering both. We could save some money, we could allow commercial entities to step in and make a profit, we could stop encouraging nations to increase their taxes for sure!