International Monetary Fund

The Annual Report of the Executive Directors of the International Monetary Fund for the fiscal year ended April 30, 1958, was transmitted to the Chairman of the Board of Governors on July 25, 1958. In its discussion of the economic climate of 1957–1958, the report noted that at the beginning of 1957, the world economy was still dominated by boom conditions generated by an intense world-wide wave of private and public investment which was reflected in a large demand for capital. Most of the payments problems that called for treatment during the first three-quarters of the year had their origin in the inflationary methods which were often used to satisfy this demand, and there was a dearth of loanable funds and a growing tension in the money markets. The financial problems that presented themselves in this situation were greatly intensified early in 1957 by the temporary effects of the tensions that arose in connection with the Suez events and, later in the year, by speculative movements against certain European currencies.