193. Editorial Note
On March 29 and 30, 1968, the Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors of the Group of Ten convened in Stockholm. Secretary Fowler headed the U.S. delegation, which included Edward Fried. The major issue at this monetary conference was the nature of Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) as they had developed in recent discussions of draft amendments to the Articles of the International Monetary Fund. Regarding the IMF annual meeting in Rio de Janeiro, which on September 29, 1967, approved an “Outline of a Facility Based on Special Drawing Rights,” see Document 145.
In a memorandum to President Johnson, March 27, Walt Rostow summarized the major issues at the upcoming conference. (Johnson Library, National Security File, Subject File, Balance of Payments, Vol. V [2 of 2], Box 3) Fried’s report of the first day’s meeting was transmitted in telegram [text not declassified] 8892 from Stockholm, March 29, and was forwarded to the President under cover of a March 30 memorandum from Rostow. (Ibid.) The text of Secretary Fowler’s statement at the conference on March 30 was transmitted in telegram 1118 from Stockholm, March 30. (Department of State, Central Files, FN 10)
At the Stockholm meeting, French Finance Minister Michel Debre argued, among other things, that the draft amendments seemed to go well beyond the dictates of the Outline and would make SDRs more of a reserve account than a supplementary credit. Nevertheless, the conferees [Page 542] went ahead and agreed to proposed amendments to the Articles of the Agreement of the Fund, which included the creation of a facility based on Special Drawing Rights, for a later vote by the Governors. The French delegation reserved its position on this and other agreements at the meeting. The final communique reaffirmed the Ministers’ and Governors’ “determination to cooperate in the maintenance of exchange stability and orderly exchange arrangements in the world, based on the present official price of gold.” For text of the communiqué, March 30, see Annual Report of the Secretary of the Treasury … , 1968, page 372.
George H. Willis, in a paper he drafted on April 1, advised members of the Deming Group on the “Agreement on Special Drawing Rights Reached by Ministers of the Group of Ten at Stockholm, March 30, 1968.” (Deming Group paper DG/68/148; Washington National Records Center, RG 56, OASIA Files:FRC 75 A 101, Deming Group) For Rostow’s April 2 memorandum to the President summarizing the conference, see Document 194. For additional details regarding this conference, see De Vries, The International Monetary Fund, 1966–1971, volume I, pages 170–172. Text of the proposed amendment to the Articles of Agreement is ibid., volume II, pages 52–94. A detailed summary of the Stockholm meeting is in Current Economic Developments, Issue No. 803, April 9, 1968, pages 1–3. (Washington National Records Center, RG 59, E/CBA/REP Files: FRC 72 A 6248, Current Economic Developments)
In a message to Congress, April 30, President Johnson requested approval of the amendment to the International Monetary Fund Agreement, which provided for the creation of new Special Drawing Rights. For text, see Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: Lyndon B. Johnson, 1968–69, Book I, pages 545–549. Congress soon passed legislation approving this amendment, and President Johnson signed it on June 19. (P.L. 90–349; 82 Stat. 188) Meanwhile, on May 31, the Governors approved the proposed amendment, which entered into force on July 28, 1969.