Money

Money is the root of all evil and the primary resource of the game. You use money for almost everything and in a way, it's your health bar. Unlike most strategy games, differentiates between different kinds of assets, including properties, resources, and actual hard, cold cash. This article covers the last one.

Overview
The money pool displayed in the upper left, is the main resource consumed by your bank operations. The (somewhat) fixed expenditure is the ongoing cost of your operations, including taxes from operating in countries and salaries of your employees. If at any point you go into the red, it's instant game over. You should aim to have at least enough money to cover expenses at the end of the turn, as they are deducted first, before the income from the following turn is applied. If in doubt, liquidate some properties.

Once that's secured, you can use money for numerous purposes:
 * Credits, you can only lend as much money as you have in the treasury.
 * Banking licences, necessary to operate in the target country.
 * Investment, purchasing properties.
 * Exchange sales and purchases.
 * Headquarters upgrades
 * Employees hiring and salaries.
 * Financing revolutions.

IMF
All the leading countries of the world have come to understand that the world needs a single fund that will lend to governments of various countries at advantageous interest rates. For this, an organization called the IMF has been established. All financial institutions of the world will be able to buy the shares of this organization. But those who get 51% of ownership or more will automatically gain control of all governments in the world!

Bidding for a share in the fund will be held as an auction. The maximum value of the lot is determined by the capital of the richest bidder. Every second the value of the shares will decline and a greater number of banks will be able to participate in the auction. The winner shall be the bank that is the first to buy the lot.

When the initial 100% of the shares are sold, the shares of the bank with the smallest share will be put up for auction. Bidding will continue until the main bank of the fund, the owner of 51% of the shares, is determined.

In summary, the IMF is a victory option for those who have an overabundance of money laying around and can compete in the auctions. Note that some science projects also provide IMF shares to ensure you don't fall behind.

Strategies

 * The most basic strategy is to manufacture weapons in the armory and then sell them to the side of your choosing. The less turns remain until conclusion, the better the sales prices. If there are no ongoing wars, why not start some?
 * Long-term purchases of industry and luxury real estate is a good investment, as the former provides the means for manufacturing weapons, the latter ready-made goods for sale on the open market (and reduce the costs of upgrading headquarters).