International Monetary Fund Annual Report 1966

This paper reviews key findings of the IMF’s Annual Report for the fiscal year ended April 30, 1966. The report highlights that the year 1965 was characterized by substantial, although somewhat uneven, growth in the world economy. For the first time in many years, the rise in industrial output in the United States and Canada was markedly higher than in the other industrial countries, where, in the first half of the year, economic progress was generally rather slow. However, after midyear, economic activity accelerated both in the United States and in the European area.

The Annual Report to the Board of Governors reviews the IMF's activities and policies during any given year. There are five chapters: (1) Overview, (2) Developments in the Global Economy and Financial Markets, (3) Policies to Secure Sustained and Balanced Global Growth, (4) Reforming and Strengthening the IMF to Better Support Member Countries, and (5) Finances, Organization, and Accountability. the full financial statements for the year are published separately and are also available, along with appendixes and other supplementary materials.

This paper discusses developments in individual countries reflected domestic policies, but also the way in which their economies were affected by international economic developments. Generally, countries that have assumed the obligations of Article VIII of the IMF Agreement—and which as noted in the last Report account for some 70 per cent of world trade—were making less use of restrictions, and some were able further to reduce that use in 1965–1966. At the outset of 1965 there were a number of disturbing tendencies in the international payments situation. The growth of international trade was noticeably slackening, and the prices of primary products were declining. Among the industrial countries export increases in 1965 were generally largest for those whose payments positions were already strong and whose restrictions on payments had been largely eliminated. Thus, the member countries of the European Economic Community (EEC) had a very satisfactory expansion of exports; this was partly associated with economic developments in France and Italy, where some easing of domestic demand released resources for export.

This paper reviews key findings of the IMF’s Annual Report for the fiscal year ended April 30, 1957. The report highlights that boom conditions continued throughout 1956, sustained by an undercurrent of private business investment sufficiently strong to compensate for such weaknesses as appeared in some individual sectors. Any apprehensions, which might have been entertained in the early months of the year that the upward trend of business was soon to be reversed, were thus shown to be without foundation.

IMF economists work closely with member countries on a variety of issues. Their unique perspective on country experiences and best practices on global macroeconomic issues are often shared in the form of books on diverse topics such as cross-country comparisons, capacity building, macroeconomic policy, financial integration, and globalization.

This paper discusses the 1966 Annual Meetings of the IMF and of the World Bank and its affiliates, the International Development Association (IDA) and the International Finance Corporation. The annual meetings were held in September in Washington. The widespread shortage of capital and rising interest rates were described as posing problems for the Bank’s own borrowings as well as for developing countries. Mr. George D. Woods, the President, stressed the allied problem of the urgent need for a substantial replenishment of the resources available to IDA.

The Annual Report to the Board of Governors reviews the IMF's activities and policies during any given year. There are five chapters: (1) Overview, (2) Developments in the Global Economy and Financial Markets, (3) Policies to Secure Sustained and Balanced Global Growth, (4) Reforming and Strengthening the IMF to Better Support Member Countries, and (5) Finances, Organization, and Accountability. the full financial statements for the year are published separately and are also available, along with appendixes and other supplementary materials.

This paper reviews key findings of the IMF’s Annual Report for the fiscal year ended April 30, 1960. The report highlights that the year ended April 1960 showed a continued upswing in world industrial activity and an increase in world trade. Industrial production in 1959 was greater by 10 percent than in the recession year of 1958, and the value of world trade increased by 6 percent, both increases being more or less continuous from about the middle of 1958.