395. Editorial Note
On April 13, Under Secretary of the Treasury W. Randolph Burgess and Chilean Ambassador Mario Rodriguez signed an exchange agreement in Washington “designed to assist Chile in its efforts toward achieving increased economic stability and freedom [Page 812] for trade and exchange transactions.” The Treasury Agreement, which supplemented Chile’s standby arrangement with the IMF and its credit agreements with several private banks in the United States, provided that Chilean authorities could if necessary request the United States Exchange Stabilization Fund to purchase Chilean pesos up to an amount equivalent to $10 million. This agreement was officially announced on April 15. The Department of State transmitted an advance text of the official press release announcing the agreement to the Embassy in telegram 452 to Santiago, April 13. (Department of State, Central Files, 825.131/4–1356) The press release is printed in Annual Report of the Secretary of the Treasury on the State of the Finances for the Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 1956 (Washington, 1957), page 220.
A detailed analysis of the Chilean exchange reform program, which became effective on April 16, is in Current Economic Developments, Issue No. 491, April 17, 1956, pages 11–14. (Department of State, Current Economic Developments: Lot 70 D 467)