§ VISCOUNT ALEXANDER OF HILLSBOROUGHasked Her Majesty's Government:
What were the total resources generally available to the International Monetary Fund, and what are the additional amounts to be contributed by the United Kingdom and other countries under the recent proposals for providing the Fund with additional resources.
§ LORD MILLSThe total resources of the International Monetary Fund at present amount to just over $15,000 million. In addition, when the general borrowing arrangements described in Cmnd. 1656 have come into effect, the Fund will be able under certain conditions to borrow supplementary resources from those member countries that have adhered to the arrangements.
The maximum amount which each such country will stand ready to lend to the Fund, in accordance with the terms of the arrangements, is specified in the table on page 10 of Cmnd. 1656. The total of these maximum commitments is the equivalent of $6,000 million; and the arrangements will come into effect when at least seven countries, with commitments totalling not less than $5,500 million, have formally notified the Fund of their adherence. So far, three countries have adhered: Italy, the United Kingdom and Japan with maximum commitments equivalent respectively to $550 million, $1,000 million and $250 million.
House adjourned at twenty-eight minutes past seven o'clock.