Suchergebnisse

Exchange Rates: It was announced on October 6, 1949 that the government of Uruguay had consulted with the Fund and proposed the following modifications in its exchange rates: 1) for the export of meat, wool, linseed and wheat, 1.519 pesos per dollar; 2) for the export of oils, dry and salted hides and skins, and packing house products, 1.78 pesos per dollar; 3) for the export of woolen yarns, its by-products, tanned leather and its manufacturers, 2.35 pesos per dollar; and 4) for general imports, 1.90 pesos per dollar and for imports of luxuries and non-essentials, 2.45 pesos per dollar. The Fund accepted these changes with the understanding that consultation with the Fund would continue in order to unify the rate and to agree on a par value.

The Annual Report of the Executive Directors for the fiscal year ending April 30, 1951 indicated a general improvement in balance of payments, world production, and trade, although serious dollar shortages still existed in some countries. The outbreak of hostilities in Korea, however, and the expanded rearmament programs had produced shortages of raw materials and skilled labor, rises in prices and changes in the terms of trade of many countries. The report stressed the importance of using monetary and fiscal measures as well as measures of direct control to combat inflationary tendencies in order to prevent "situations of latent inflation". It was believed that the present pattern of world payments was not a stable one and that it would become so only following an increase in production outside of the United States and a better relationship between prices of primary and industrial goods.

On October 20 the Fund issued its second financial statement for the quarter ended August 31,1947. Authorized subscriptions of members had increased from the equivalent of $7,721.5 million to the equivalent of $7,921.5 million when Australia accepted membership in the Organization, and the equivalent of $6,579.2 million had been paid by members by August 31, as contrasted to $6,519.9 million at the end of the first financial quarter. The Fund's holdings of gold were estimated at $1,345.0 million for the period reviewed, and its holdings of currencies (including non-negotiable and non-interest bearing notes) amounted to the equivalent of $5,232.6 million.

One would not ordinarily think of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as of particular importance to the less developed countries. Nevertheless, in recent years the less developed coun-tries have come to have a very high regard for the IMF; and the IMF, in turn, has become the great defender of the interests of the less developed countries. This entente has evolved out of the course of events. In the current discussions on international monetary reform the IMF has be-come the spokesman for universal participation in reserve creation. This suits the institutional interests of the IMF. At the same time it makes the IMF the advocate of the interests of the less developed countries