'International Monetary Fund'

During the course of the discussion at the Treasury on 24th September, 1947 Mr. Rowe-Dutton enquired whether it was likely that Ireland would apply for membership of the International Monetary Fund and Bank. He said that in addition to the points which he had mentioned at the earlier discussion on the same subject in January, 1947 there had now emerged a new factor of importance namely, that if Ireland became a member of the IMF she should be able to use her allocation to supplement her dollar resources. The United Kingdom had already drawn one instalment of $60 mil. from her allocation and there would be further transactions of the same kind. All of the dollars so procured by the United Kingdom from the IMF would be treated as part of the dollar reserves available for the general requirements of the sterling area as a whole. It would obviously be helpful in the present critical period of dollar shortage if Ireland could secure some dollars from the same quarter, thus easing the extent of her net requirements from the dollar pool. Mr. McElligott said that, following his previous conversation at the Treasury on the matter he had discussed with his Minister, but no decision had yet been taken. It was a matter obviously on which the Irish Government would have to pass judgment and the Central Bank would also have to be consulted. He promised to bring the matter up on his return to Dublin.

In the course of the discussion it transpired that neither South Africa nor Australia who are members of the Fund are likely to be eligible for borrowing from it as their balance of payments will not be in such a state of disequilibrium as to entitle them to do so. New Zealand had not joined the Fund and India (whose quota in the Fund is $400 mil) was in such a state from the political point of view that borrowing operations at present from the Fund were not in contemplation. Pakistan is not as yet a member of the IMF. Mr. Rowe-Dutton said that the Irish quota in the Fund would probably be of the order of $40 mill. of which she would be entitled to draw up to $10 mill. in the first year of membership. Against this would have to be set her initial subscription which would be 25% of her quota or 10% of her actual holdings in gold and United States dollars, whichever is the smaller, the balance of her quota being payable in her own currency. In general each member in good standing will be permitted during any twelve months period to purchase from the Fund in exchange for equivalent amounts of its own currency foreign currencies of a total value not exceeding one-fourth of its quota, in our case say $10 million.