Suchergebnisse

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, 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.

The International Monetary Fund approved a proposal by the government of Chile to make certain fundamental changes in that country's exchange system, effective April 16, 1956. According to a press release the new exchange system replaced a complex structure of multiple rates and import licensing regulations, and established an exchange market in which the rate for commercial imports and exports, government transactions and some invisible transactions would be responsive to supply and demand forces. There would continue to be a second exchange market for other invisible transactions. At the same time the Fund entered into a one year stand-by credit agreement which enabled Chile to purchase up to $35 million in currencies held by the Fund. In addition, other Chilean arrangements provided for credits of $30 million from private banks in the United States and an exchange agreement with the United States Treasury in the amount of $10 million. These resources were intended to assist the Chilean authorities in their administration of an exchange reform, accompanied by a comprehensive program of fiscal and monetary measures directed toward economic stability. The Fund stated that it intended to remain in close touch with the Chilean authorities regarding the new exchange system.

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.