Office of the Historian

85. Memorandum From Secretary of the Treasury Fowler to President Johnson1

Washington, January 27, 1966.

SUBJECT

  • 1965 Balance of Payments Figures

Following the State of the Union Message we received from the reporting banks flash figures on the balance of payments, which showed a surplus of $87 million for the month of December and an over-all deficit of $1,207 million for the year. (Attachment A)2

On January 26, 1966, I received the “wire” figure (based on reports from more banks than can be included in the early “flash” figure). It showed a December deficit of $16 million (as compared with the surplus of $87 million in the “flash”) and an over-all deficit for the year 1965 of $1,310 million. (Attachment B)3

It will be another three weeks or so before the final balance of payments figures are in, compiled as they are from a more detailed breakdown of components than can be had for the “flash” and “wire” figures. More often than not, the final total is somewhat worse than the “wire” figure—usually within a range of $30 million.

I will report to you as soon as I have complete information in hand.

Henry H. Fowler
  1. Source: Johnson Library, National Security File, Subject File, Balance of Payments, Vol. 3 [1 of 2], Box 2. Secret. Sent under cover of a January 27 note to President Johnson from Fowler that reads: “I would advise that under no circumstances should any information on the figures in the attached memorandum be given out. As you know, we take the utmost care to give out no figures until the final ones become available although, as you know, their necessary distribution for working purposes within the government has, in the past, resulted in leaks.”↩
  2. Attachment A, dated January 20, is not printed.↩
  3. Not found.↩