Optimism on world monetary reform

Press, Volume CXII, Issue 33034, 29 September 1972, Page 9

Optimism on world monetary reform

(N.Z.P A. -Reuter—Copyrights

WASHINGTON, September 28.

. A- special group of 20 Finance Ministers charged with remoulding the world monetary system were holding their first session today as optimism on the reform issue rose.

I he Committee of 20 Ministers, who together represent the interests of all 124 members countries of the International Monetary Fund (1.M.F.) have been given the task of threshing out a compromise solution on reform that will serve world trade and finance for decades ahead.

The five-day annual conference of the I.M.F. and the World Bank, which closes tomorrow, has made considerable progress towards an eventual consensus on the political issues involved in shaping up a new economic order for the non-Communist world, observers agreed. The biggest contribution towards this was the comprehensive package of the

United States policy aims disclosed by the Treasury Secretary (Mr George Shutlz).

Other speeches by Finance Ministers from leading industrial nations showed that there was a distinct narrowing of differences on the key issues of reform. The French Finance Minister (Mr Valery Giscard id’Estaing) called yesterday I for a three-phase approach to ' world monetary reform, starting with an agreement on a new exchange rate system by I this time next year.

The second stage of his plan would be the restoration of currency convertibility into other reserve assets and the third phase would be agreement on a common measuring rod for international currency values. Only a few weeks ago the I.M.F. published a report on international monetary reform showing vivid and explicit differences between major Powers on several basic aspects of monetary revision.

While the Committee of 20 is, at its higher level, a ministerial group, the hard work in threshing out a viable plan will be undertaken by the lower and more technically qualified panel of 20 deputies. It is considered likely that this year’s chairman of the International Monetary Fund, Mr Ali Wardhana, of Indonesia, will be elected to head the ministerial committee.

Speculation about the chairman of the deputies group is still centred on Mr Rinaldo Osola, of the Italian Central Bank, and Mr Jeremy Morse, of the Bank of England.