Office of the Historian

NAC Files, Lot 60 D 137, NAC Minutes1

Minutes of the 93rd Meeting of the National Advisory Council on International Monetary and Financial Problems, April 21, 1948

[Extract]
top secret
[Washington ][, April 21, 1948].

Present

  • Secretary John W. Snyder (Chairman), Treasury Department
  • Lt. Colonel John P. Buehler, Department of the Army, Visitor
  • Mr. Willard L. Thorp, State Department
  • Mr. Norman T. Ness, State Department
  • Mr. J. J. Stenger, State Department
  • Mr. Robert B. Eichholz, State Department
  • Secretary W. Averell Harriman, Commerce Department
  • Mr. Thomas C. Blaisdell, Jr., Commerce Department
  • Mr. Clarence I. Blau, Commerce Department
  • Mr. Thomas B. McCabe, Board of Governors, Federal Reserve System
  • Mr. M. S. Szymczak, Board of Governors, Federal Reserve System
  • Mr. J. Burke Knapp, Board of Governors, Federal Reserve System
  • Mr. Herbert E. Gaston, Export-Import Bank
  • Mr. Hawthorne Arey, Export-Import Bank
  • Mr. Walter Saner, Export-Import Bank
  • Mr. Paul G. Hoffman, Economic Cooperation Administration
  • Mr. Wayne C. Taylor, Economic Cooperation Administration
  • Mr. A. I. Henderson, Economic Cooperation Administration
  • Mr. Rifat Tirana, Economic Cooperation Administration
  • Mr. Andrew N. Overby, International Monetary Fund
  • Mr. George F. Luthringer, International Monetary Fund
  • Mr. Eugene R. Black, International Bank
  • Mr. John S. Hooker, International Bank
  • Mr. Walter C. Louchheim, Jr., Securities and Exchange Commission
  • Mr. Frank A. Southard, Jr., Treasury Department
  • Mr. Thomas J. Lynch. Treasury Department
  • Mr. James J. Saxon, Treasury Department
  • Mr. William W. Parsons, Treasury Department
  • Mr. Lowell M. Pumphrey, Treasury Department
  • Mr. Elting Arnold, Treasury Department
  • Mr. Melville E. Locker, Treasury Department
  • Mr. George Bronz, Treasury Department
  • Mr. Clifford J. Hynning, Treasury Department
  • Mr. John W. Gunter (Secretary)
  • Mr. Andrew M. Kamarck (NAC Staff)
  • Mr. Allan J. Fisher (NAC Secretariat)

. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

[Page 429]

Action. The following action was taken:

The Council recommends that in principle the terms of payment on ECA loans be in general conformity with the terms of loans by the Export-Import Bank under its 1945 Act, with due regard to the character and purpose of the loans approved by the Economic Cooperation Administration.

The Council recommends that the Administrator in arriving at the terms of payment of such loans consider the following:

(a)
that, other things being equal, the terms of payment should be uniform among participating countries;
(b)
that the typical final maturity should be as long as necessary so that the schedule of repayments should not be burdensome, and that principal payments should, in general, not occur during the period of the Economic Cooperation Act of 1948;
(c)
that the rate of interest should normally not exceed 3½ percent per annum;
(d)
that variations of the terms of any individual loan from the typical or normal terms should not be precluded:
(i)
so long as the aggregate annual burden of debt assumed by the borrowing country is not substantially changed from that which would result from general application of the normal terms, or
(ii)
where the borrowing country appears able to pay within a shorter period for all assistance received;
(e)
that, although it would be desirable for loans of particular maturities to be assigned, where possible, to suitable commodities or projects; the serious nature of the balance of payments deficits giving rise to this program commends the use of great caution in varying the terms of loans by reason of the nature of the commodity or project;
(f)
that consideration be given to the question of including in the loan contracts a provision for postponement of payment or modification of service charges in periods of unanticipated balance of payments stringency.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

  1. Master file of the documents of the National Advisory Council on International Monetary and Financial Problems for years 1945–1958, as maintained by the Bureau of Economic Affairs of the Department of State.↩