62. Editorial Note
From September 17 to 21, 1962, the annual meeting of the Boards of Governors of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (including the International Development Association and the International Finance Corporation) and the International Monetary Fund took place in Washington.
Regarding Adlai Stevenson’s support for a proposed U.S. initiative to increase contributions to the International Development Association by $3 billion at the meeting, see Document 201. The Department of the Treasury initiated this proposal, but Under Secretary of State Ball strongly opposed any specific U.S. commitment at the time. Memoranda of Ball’s telephone conversations with Carl Kaysen on strategy for the upcoming meeting, including the proposed contents of President Kennedy’s speech to the meeting, are in Department of State, Ball Papers: Lot 74 D 272, AID 1961-1963, 5(2) and ibid., IMF 1961-1963, 7(2). Position papers and other documentation on the meeting are ibid., E Files: Lot 64 D 452, United States Delegation Annual Meetings, Board of Governors,IMF-IBRD-IFC-IDA.
[Page 154]Under Secretary of State Ball spoke to the Governors on September 18. For text of his speech, see Department of State Bulletin, October 15, 1962, pages 575-582. In his address to the Governors on September 20, President Kennedy only briefly mentioned that “this country supports the proposal that the [IDA] executive directors develop a program to increase its resources.” Most of his address emphasized the importance of the dollar as an international currency and the U.S. efforts, including bringing its international payments into balance, to maintain the strength of the currency. Text of his address is in Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: John F. Kennedy, 1962, pages 691-694.