206. Editorial Note

When the annual meeting of the Governors of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development convened jointly in Washington with the International Monetary Fund, the International Finance Corporation, and the International Development Association September 30-October 4, 1963, the Bank had a new president, George Woods, and the Fund a new managing director, Pierre-Paul Schweitzer. The main subjects at the meeting were international liquidity and the loan policy of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development. For text of the speeches by President Kennedy and Douglas Dillon at the meeting, which focused on liquidity, see Department of State Bulletin, October 21, 1963, pages 610-619.

Regarding the Bank’s loan policies, in his address on September 30, Woods proposed expansion of the Bank’s lending activities, especially for the financing of agricultural credit and new industries, long-term financing for the import of individual items of industrial equipment and spare parts, and new facilities in the field of education, and more flexible lending terms. In his address to the Bank on October 2, Under Secretary [Page 453] of State Ball particularly welcomed Woods’ “suggestion that the Bank may, in appropriate cases, modify the terms of its lending so as to lengthen grace periods and extend maturities” as well as his flexibility and “willingness—indeed his eagerness—to explore new ground.” For text of Ball’s speech, see ibid., pages 619-623.

The major subjects at the meeting were summarized in Current Economic Developments, Issue No. 686, October 15, 1963, pages 14-18. (Washington National Records Center, E/CBA/REP Files:FRC 72 A 624, Current Economic Developments)