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The eighteenth annual report of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for the fiscal year ending April 30, 1963, was transmitted to the Board of Governors on July 11, 1963, by the Acting Chairman of the Executive Board, Mr. Frank A. Southard, Jr. Summarizing the world payments situation, the report indicated that economic activity continued during 1962 to expand in most industrial countries. Exceptions to this general upward trend were recorded in the United Kingdom and Japan and were seen partly as the result of policies directed toward strengthening the balance of payments. In both 1961 and 1962 the value of world trade was some 5 percent higher than in the preceding year, and in 1962 the increase in the value of exports of primary producing countries as a group almost kept pace with that of the manufacturing countries, although declines in the prices of certain products adversely affected some nations.

The sixteenth annual report of the Executive Directors of the International Monetary Fund for the fiscal year ending April 30, 1961, was transmitted to the Chairman of the Board of Governors on June 23, 1961, by Mr. Per Jacobsson, Chairman of the Executive Board. The report stated that in contrast to the year 1959, when virtually all countries had participated in world-wide expansion, the year 1960 and early part of 1961 had presented a less unified picture. For the world as a whole, the expansionary elements had considerably outweighed the contractionary elements. World industrial production, excluding the countries of the Soviet area, had been almost 6 percent greater in 1960 than in 1959, having grown by 10 percent; and the value of world trade had increased by 12 percent, compared with 6 percent in 1959. The stimulus for the rise in world trade had come predominantly from the booming European industrial countries and from Japan, which had increased their imports by nearly 20 percent; there had been a slight decline in imports from the United States and Canada. The imports of the less-industrialized countries had also increased considerably, by some 10 percent. Trade developments during 1960 had improved the basic international payments situation in some respects. Rising exports and slightly declining imports caused an increase in the surplus of private goods and services account in the United States. West Germany's surplus also increased, while France's remained stationary; decreases had been noted in several other industrial countries, in particular Japan and Italy, where the rate of economic expansion had been exceptionally high, and in the United Kingdom, mainly due to the sharp growth of imports associated with their high level of economic activity.

A mission sent by the International Monetary Fund to India, at the request of that government, to study monetary and financial problems arising from the Indian government's five-year development plan, said that $400 million would be needed to complete the program, according to a report released on February 7, 1954. The report indicated that this financing might be sought internally as well as through foreign assistance. The mission regarded the program, which was estimated to call for a total investment of $7 billion, as "essential to the well-being of the people of India and … important to the survival of democracy in Asia". While grants-in-aid would have a better economic effect than borrowing to obtain the necessary foreign aid, the report noted, the Indian economy was sound and should be able to borrow abroad if need be. Among the special problems covered in the report was the unpredictability of an adequate food supply; the mission recommended that India conclude special arrangements with the United States, Canada and Australia for a supply of wheat to meet "any extraordinary future needs". In presenting the report to the Indian Parliament, the Indian government welcomed the Fund's study but made it clear that it was not committed to its recommendations.

The annual report of the Executive Directors of the International Monetary Fund for the fiscal year ended April 30, 1959, was transmitted to the Chairman of the Board of Governors on July 9, 1959. In its discussion of the world economy in 1958–1959 the report noted that the year which ended on April 30 had stood out not only because of the marked changes which had occurred in general business activity and in the international flow of funds, but also because important steps had been taken to consolidate the monetary improvements achieved since the war and to strengthen the financial structure of the world economy. Outstanding events had been the following: a sharp upswing of industrial production in the United States, together with indications of renewed expansion in other industrial countries; the increase of more than $3.5 billion in the gold and foreign exchange reserves of western European countries; the adoption in December 1958 of external convertibility by fourteen European countries and the complementary steps taken by fifteen other countries to adjust their exchange controls to the new conditions thus established; and the agreements reached to expand the financial resources of the Fund and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development. On the other hand, the experience of many of the primary producing countries had been much less satisfactory, inasmuch as the decline in the prices of many primary products which had begun in 1956 had continued into 1958, and there had been a reduction in the earning capacity of most of these countries, which had created further difficulties in their payments positions and acted as a brake upon their economic development

The Tenth Annual Report on Exchange Restrictions of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), covering the period from May 1958 to April 1959, was transmitted to members and governors of the Fund on June 3, 1959.1 In Part I of the report the establishment of external convertibility of the major European currencies was described as the most important single achievement of the postwar period in the field of exchange restriction. This event took place at the end of 1958, while in early 1959 other countries adjusted their exchange control regulations to the new conditions. A major factor behind the move was pinpointed as the general gain in strength, both economic and financial, of the industrialized countries and, with the exception of the United States, their substantial addition to their gold and dollar reserves. Most of the less developed countries continued to experience difficulties, according to the report, but several were putting into effect comprehensive stabilization programs which included the simplification of their exchange systems. The report considered the immediate effects of this concerted move and the impact it might be expected to have on the restrictions that still remained. It also pointed out that during the period under review appreciable further progress was made in the substitution of unitary exchange rates for multiple currency practices, and that there was a general decline in the number of bilateral payments arrangements between member countries of the Fund.

The Annual Report of the Executive Directors of the International Monetary Fund for the fiscal year ended April 30, 1954, was transmitted to the Chairman of the Board of Governors on July 1, 1954. During the period under review, the report noted, important steps toward currency convertibility had been taken in several countries, notably Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, the Netherlands, and United Kingdom; restrictions on dollar imports had been lightened, exports of domestic capital had been freer, and more reliance had been placed on the regulative powers of the price mechanism. The easing of restrictions had gone hand in hand with an improvement in the world balance of payments equilibrium, and a reversal, during 1953, of the downward trend in the volume of world trade which had appeared early in 1952. Sound fiscal and monetary policies had improved the competitive position of Europe which had experienced smore stable prices and less inflationary pressure; the report cautioned that the coincidence, up to mid-1953, of a high level of business activity in the United States with slack demand conditions in western Europe had been a purely fortuitous aid in improving the latter's balance of payments position. Progress toward convertibility had been made possible by a general improvement in economic conditions; however, problems would be involved in taking further steps toward convertibility. Among these were: (1) the problem of controlling international movements of capital, and (2) the importance of having countries whose balance of payments position was weak, as well as those with a stronger position, move concurrently towards convertibility.

The Annual Report of the Executive Directors of the International Monetary Fund for the fiscal year ended April 30, 1954, was transmitted to the Chairman of the Board of Governors on July 1, 1954. During the period under review, the report noted, important steps toward currency convertibility had been taken in several countries, notably Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, the Netherlands, and United Kingdom; restrictions on dollar imports had been lightened, exports of domestic capital had been freer, and more reliance had been placed on the regulative powers of the price mechanism. The easing of restrictions had gone hand in hand with an improvement in the world balance of payments equilibrium, and a reversal, during 1953, of the downward trend in the volume of world trade which had appeared early in 1952. Sound fiscal and monetary policies had improved the competitive position of Europe which had experienced more stable prices and less inflationary pressure; the report cautioned that the coincidence, up to mid-1953, of a high level of business activity in the United States with slack demand conditions in western Europe had been a purely fortuitous aid in improving the latter's balance of payments position. Progress toward convertibility had been made possible by a general improvement in economic conditions; however, problems would be involved in taking further steps toward convertibility. Among these were: 1) the problem of controlling international movements of capital, and 2) the importance of having countries whose balance of payments position was weak, as well as those with a stronger position, move concurrently towards convertibility.

In accordance with the request of the United Nations Economic and Social Council, the International Monetary Fund submitted to the Council's thirteenth session, a study on the capacity of underdeveloped countries to service investments of foreign capital. With compensatory financing eliminated from its consideration, the remainder of the country's international receipts appeared to furnish a reasonable total with which to compare its foreign debt service. Such a total would include the goods and services the country was able to sell abroad, the foreign capital that it was able to attract by its investment opportunities and the donations that it received for particular purposes other than compensatory financing. This total would be subject to wide fluctuations. Markets for the raw materials exported by underdeveloped countries were notoriously subject to sudden shifts in demand which could drastically affect both volume and price. Again the capital flow to underdeveloped countries could be suddenly interrupted if the markets for their raw material exports turned weak or if they pursued unstable or confiscatory policies at home. The dangers to an underdeveloped country's balance of payments position arose from the wide fluctuations in the value of raw material exports and inflow of capital that might occur almost overnight. It was these that raised questions of how quickly and how far imports of goods and services could be contracted in order to permit the service of the foreign debt to continue to be paid in full.