Suchergebnisse

The Annual Report of the Executive Directors of the International Monetary Fund for the fiscal year ended April 30, 1957, was transmitted to the Chairman of the Board of Governors on June 28, 1957. The report stated that boom conditions had continued throughout 1956, sustained by an undercurrent of private business investment sufficiently strong to compensate for weaknesses in individual sectors. The increase in the demand for capital, due largely to new production techniques, changes in agricultural and manufacturing methods, and growth in population, had been accompanied by a great volume of economic activity and an increased demand for public and private investment in social services and amenities. Although there had been no further significant extension of restrictions, inflationary tendencies had constituted a primary problem.

Sixth Annual Report on ExchangeRestrictionsOn May 4, 1955, the Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (Rooth) transmitted to the Governors and members of the Fund the sixth annual report on exchange restrictions. In the third series of consultations on exchange restrictions, the Fund had consulted with 45 member governments under Article XIV, Section 2, of the Articles of Agreement. During the year reviewed, March 1954 to April 1955, the Fund reported further progress toward convertibility, although progresshad been more gradual and mainly by means of numerous relatively small measures of relaxation. There had been greater reliance on monetary and fiscal measures for coping with balance of payments problems, as contrasted with earlier reliance on restriction of foreign trade and payments; this shift in emphasis had made possible the introduction and operation of facilities for increased convertibility. Developments in the exchange and monetary field had, the report noted, focused attention on the problem of discrimination, especially in the form of bilateral agreements, and on the question of whether these arrangements were justified in a world in which there was a general trend toward multilateralism, convertibility and freedom from restriction. The period reviewed in the report was also marked by larger exchange allocations for various purposes and significant relaxation of discrimination against dollar payments. In addition, exchange controls had been simplified or their administration liberalized in a number of countries.

After consulting the International Monetary Fund, on unification of its exchange system, the government of Greece on April 9, 1953, eliminated all multiple currency practices and adjusted the official exchange rate from 15,000 drachmas per United States dollar to 30,000 drachmas per United States dollar. The Fund's announcement of this action by the Greek government added that it welcomed and concurred in these policies. Another proposal to adjust an official exchange rate was approved by the Fund on May 14; the government of Bolivia proposed to establish a new par value for the boliviano of 190 bolivianos per United States dollar. The previous par value was 60 bolivianos per United States dollar. At the same time a Bolivian proposal to simplify its exchange system was approved; effective May 14 the exchange system was to consist of an official and a free market. The official market would be for all trade transactions, government payments, registered capital, and certain specified invisibles. All present exchange taxes, multiple import and export rates, retention quotas, compensation and divisas propias arrangements were eliminated. The Fund welcomed these efforts toward monetary stabilization and emphasized "the importance of firm anti-inflationary measures as a basis for further progress towards the achievement of Bolivia's international equilibrium."

It was announced on May 1, 1961, that the government of Honduras had entered into a stand-by agreement with the International Monetary Fund designed to support the Honduran government in its effort to strengthen its foreign payments position, while maintaining the freedom and flexibility of its foreign exchange system. The agreement authorized drawings equivalent to $7.5 million from the Fund over the following twelve months. On May 17, 1961, the Fund arranged a one-year standby agreement for the government of Brazil for $160 million and rescheduled the payments to be made by that country to the Fund against previous drawings totaling $140 million. The Fund's financial assistance to Brazil was to support a broad financial program of fiscal, credit, trade, and exchange measures designed to combat inflation and to achieve balance of payments equilibrium within the framework of a free and simplified exchange system. The arrangement with the Fund was to be supplemented by additional credits from other sources and by renegotiation of maturities on Brazil's medium-term foreign indebtedness. The Fund also announced that on April 27, 1961, it had agreed to a drawing by the government of Australia of $175 million in currencies held by the Fund. At the same time it entered into a stand-by arrangement with the Australian government authorizing additional drawings up to $100 million over the following twelve months to support the government's efforts to improve its foreign payments position by means of fiscal, monetary, and other measures.

It was announced on November 19, 1959, that France had purchased $200 million from the International Monetary Fund, thereby reducing the Fund's holdings of French francs to 98 percent of the French quota. A one-year$100 million stand-by arrangement between the government of Argentina and the Fund was announced on December 1, 1959; this was to enable the Argentine government to carry forward its program of economic stabilization, which was to be supplemented by additional credits from other quarters. Specifically, the arrangement was to provide for general payment support and help maintain an orderly foreign exchange system; it brought Argentina's outstanding drawings from the Fund to $117.5 million. On December 21, 1959, the Fund announced a stand-by arrangement with the Dominican Republic, which authorized it to draw up to $11,250,000 during the following twelve months, thereby enabling the government to undertake a stabilization program needed to offset the declining export earnings affecting the Dominican Republic. Lasdy, on March 1, 1960, the government of Peru entered into a one-year stand-by arrangement with the Fund for an amount of $27.5 million in support of its efforts to achieve economic and financial stability and to counteract the inflationary pressures the country had been experiencing.

The Annual Report of the Executive Directors of the International Monetary Fund for the fiscal year ended April 30, 1958, was transmitted to the Chairman of the Board of Governors on July 25, 1958. In its discussion of the economic climate of 1957–1958, the report noted that at the beginning of 1957, the world economy was still dominated by boom conditions generated by an intense world-wide wave of private and public investment which was reflected in a large demand for capital. Most of the payments problems that called for treatment during the first three-quarters of the year had their origin in the inflationary methods which were often used to satisfy this demand, and there was a dearth of loanable funds and a growing tension in the money markets. The financial problems that presented themselves in this situation were greatly intensified early in 1957 by the temporary effects of the tensions that arose in connection with the Suez events and, later in the year, by speculative movements against certain European currencies.

On June 7, 1961, it was announced that the International Monetary Fund had entered into a stand-by arrangement authorizing the government of Ecuador to draw up to $10 million in currencies held by the Fund during the following twelve months. Then, on July 19 the Fund announced that it had concurred in the establishment of a new par value for Ecuador's currency, accompanied by a simplification of the country's exchange system. The par value as of that date was changed from 15 to 18 sucres per United States dollar, and Ecuador discontinued most of its multiple rate practices. Under the new system at least 90 percent of all trade and trade-connected transactions, including the export of such major products as bananas, coffee and cacao, was to be conducted within one percent either side of parity, while a small free market with a fluctuating rate, mainly for nonessential invisible transactions and unregistered capital transactions, was to continue to operate, chiefly as a means of controlling capital movements. During the period under review the Fund also entered into stand-by agreements wkh other Latin American countries. On July 14, 1961, the Fund announced a one-year stand-by arrangement with the government of El Salvador authorizing drawings in an amount equivalent to $11.25 million. The Fund's assistance was designed to help to support the country's reserve position and ensure the continued convertibility of its currency while measures were being adopted to improve El Salvador's internal situation through appropriate fiscal and monetary policies.

The Board of Governors of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) held its eighteenth annual meeting in Washington, D.C., from September 30 through October 4, 1963, under the chairmanship of Mr. Emilio Colombo, Governor for Italy. Introducing the annual report, Mr. Pierre-Paul Schweitzer, the new Chairman of the Executive Board and Managing Director of the Fund, welcomed the governors of the twenty member countries which had joined the Fund since the last annual meeting: Algeria, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo (Brazzaville), Congo (Leopoldville), Dahomey, Gabon, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Jamaica, Madagascar, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Rwanda, Trinidad and Tobago, Uganda, and Upper Volta. With the addition of these new members the Fund had a total membership of 102. Mr. Schweitzer commented that in the fiscal year ended in April 1963 eighteen countries had purchased the equivalent of $580 million from the Fund and the equivalent of $807 million had been received in repurchases. Both purchases and repurchases were less than in the previous fiscal year when the United Kingdom had made a very large drawing. The Fund had also made stand-by arrangements with twenty countries under which $1.8 billion was available, including the recently renewed stand-by arrangement of $1.0 billion with the United Kingdom and the $500 million stand-by arrangement with the United States.

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 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 annual joint meeting of the Boards of Governors of the International Monetary Fund and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development was held at Paris from September 6 to 14, 1950 at the same time as the annual meetings of the Governors of the two organizations. At the opening joint meeting of the Fund and the Bank on September 6, the first matter considered was a draft resolution submitted by the Governor for Czechoslovakia requesting that delegates from the People's Republic of China be substituted for the delegation from the "Kuomintang group". This proposition was vehemently resisted by the Governor for China but supported by the Governors for India and Yugoslavia. After a show of hands the motion was defeated at the second joint meeting. At the fourth joint session it was agreed that the sixth annual meeting of the two organizations in 1951 would be held in the United States. Following that recommendation the joint session approved the nomination of the Governor for Canada (Douglas Abbott) as chairman for the ensuing year and the Governors for China, France, India, the United Kingdom and the United States as vice-chairmen.

The seventh annual meeting of the Board of Governors of the International Monetary Fund was held jointly with the Board of Governors of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development in Mexico City, Mexico, September 3 through 12, 1952, under the chairmanship of the Governors for Brazil, Eugenio Gudin and Horacio Lafer. Presenting the seventh annual re-port of the Fund, the Managing Director (Rooth) stated that the payments problem had persisted for so long and was so little understood that the public might lose interest in its solution, but that with positive measures by the deficit and surplus countries, he believed the problem could be solved. After remarking that it could not be solved by "retreating behind a network of restrictions and discriminations", he expressed concern with the recent spread in western Europe of dollar retention systems and similar arrangements. In the subsequent discussions of the policies and activities of the Fund as reported in the annual report, many Governors emphasized the importance of proper credit and budget policies in solving payments difficulties; some mentioned the need to recognize the responsibility of the surplus countries in restoring payments balance, it being suggested that joint discussions between surplus and deficit nations be held with the Fund; a number referred to the need for a clearer policy on the use of the Fund's resources, emphasizing the payments problems which arose in underdeveloped countries when there was a sudden depression in world markets; and several spoke about the price of gold.

The Annual Report of the Executive Directors of the International Monetary Fund for the fiscal year ended April 30, 1952 was presented to the Board of Governors by its chairman (Rooth) on June 24, 1952. The report indicated that, despite a remarkable growth in production and one widespread adjustment of exchange rates over the previous seven years, international payments were still far from having attained a state of balance and exchange difficulties and restrictions existed again over large parts of the world, for countries constituting a large part of the world had followed policies aimed at achieving higher levels of consumption and investment than could be covered out of real resources available. This had resulted in a situation of inflationary pressures that in certain countries had been aggravated by rearmament programs, pressures which created excessive demands for imports and reduced the quantities of goods available for export. In this situation the use of exchange restrictions and quantitative import controls, frequently of a discriminatory nature, seemed inevitable to many countries; and during the past year there had been a tendency to extend and intensify these restrictions and controls.

The annual joint meeting of the Boards of Governors of the International Monetary Fund and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development was held in Washington from September 10 to 14, 1951, concurrently with the annual meetings of the Governors of the individual bodies. The Czechoslovakian Governor proposed at the opening meeting that delegates from the People's Republic of China be substituted (in all Fund, Bank and Joint machinery) for the delegates from the "Kuomintang group". No action, however, was taken on the "expulsion" resolution. At the closing joint session, on September 14, the Governors disposed of the remainder of the substantive work of the Joint Procedures Committee by agreeing that: 1) the seventh annual meeting of the joint Boards of Governors be held in Mexico City in the first half of September, 1952; 2) the Governor for Brazil be chairman for the joint Board of Governors for the ensuing year, while the Governors for China, France, India, the United Kingdom and the United States be vice-chairmen; 3) the composition of the Joint Procedures Committee for the ensuing year be the Governors for Brazil (chairman), Australia (vice-chairman), Lebanon (reporting member), and China, Finland, France, India, Luxembourg, Mexico, the Philippines, the United Kingdom and the United States.

During February 1957 the government of Egypt purchased from the International Monetary Fund $15 million with Egyptian pounds. The government of India, during the same period, entered into an exchange transaction and stand-by arrangement with the Fund in a total amount of $200 million. The transaction provided for the purchase of $127.5 million from the Fund with Indian rupees. The Fund was to transfer $60 million of that amount immediately, and $67.5 million after 30 days. A stand-by arrangement to become effective on the date of the second transfer was to permit India to purchase from the Fund during the following twelve months currencies equivalent to an additional $72.5 million. Under the stand-by arrangement concluded in October 1956, France had by the middle of March made two purchases from the Fund with French francs. The first purchase, of $40 million, was made on February 14, and the second, of $60 million, was made on March 14. In April 1957, the government of Argentina purchased from the Fund $75 million with Argentine pesos. Other purchases from the Fund during the period under review included $10 million by Cuba (under a stand-by arrangement), $2.5 million by Honduras, and $0.5 million by Paraguay. In February El Salvador repurchased colones equivalent to $2.5 million; other repurchases were $3.3 million by Finland and $1.8 million by Denmark. At the request of the government of Peru, the Fund on February 15 extended for one year a stand-by arrangement enabling Peru to draw currencies up to the equivalent of $12.5 million.