§ Mr. Arnoldasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on his discussions in Paris on 18 January.
§ Sir Geoffrey HoweMinisters of the Group of Ten, reviewing the world economy, welcomed the recent successes in the fight against inflation and looked to sound monetary and fiscal policies to encourage durable economic growth. They also noted that, despite a number of countries' debt problems, governments and monetary authorities had been co-operating actively with the international monetary institutions and commercial banks to reinforce the stability of the system.
Ministers strongly supported a substantial increase in the resources available to the International Monetary Fund. In particular they decided that the general arrangements to borrow be promptly increased from SDR 6.4bn to SDR 17bn. Participants' shares are to be adjusted better to reflect their size and role in the international economy. The United Kingdom share will be 10 per cent. In future the GAB will be available not only for participants but also for conditional financing for all fund members when the fund is faced with inadequate resources and when payments imbalances threaten the stability of the international monetary system. Ministers looked forward to the conclusion of arrangements with other countries willing and able to provide rsources to the fund on terms not unlike those agreed under the GAB.