Fund -
Since the recent crisis of the pound and the ‘great loan’ there has been renewed interest in the mysterious workings of international finance. The following summary, which gives thé Chinese estimation of the I.M.F., is thought-provoking and cannot be ignored by Labour activists. We would be pleased to learn of the views of readers on this, particularly those whose field of study is economics.
HE International Monetary Fund
(I.M.F.), a specialised agency of the United Nations, is a U.Smasterminded project serving as an instrument for U.S. economic aggression, says a signed article in the Ta Kung Pao of January 13. The article goes on to say that the I.M.F. was established in accordance with a U.S. plan and thus catered to the interests of U.S. monopoly capital. This is manifest in the following aspects: One: It raised the status of the dollar by making other nations to use it as their reserves as they do gold; Two: It fixed the official price of gold at the low rate of 35 dollars an ounce in favour of the dollar; Three: Member nations of the Fund must repay its credits in dollars; Four: The member nations are called on to liberalise their trade, lift foreign exchange control and change their discriminating foreign exchange rates — all intended to increase the volume of U.S. exports and keep up the export of U.S. capital. The principal function of the I.M.F. is to provide short-term credits to its member nations by selling foreign exchange to them, whenever these nations suffer from an adverse balance in international payments, Before 1958 when the West European currencies became freely convertible, the I.M.F. gave credits mainly to the West European countries, the article continues. In recent years, however, the lion’s share of its credits went to Asian, African and Latin American countries.