Introduction

At the time of the Bretton Woods Conference in 1944, international monetary reform was fairly solidly the preserve of the developed countries of the world. The interests of less-developed countries (LDCs), if considered at all, were viewed as being in parallel with those of the developed countries, and not seen as warranting special treatment. Although, in the period between the establishment of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in 1946 and the effective collapse of the par-value international monetary system in 1971, the activities of the Fund were constrained by its own Articles of Agreement, which define the IMF as a stabilisation rather than a development agency, a number of special facilities were introduced the prime objective of which was to assist less-developed member countries in dealing with particular aspects of their balance-of-payments problems. In 1963 the Compensatory Financing Facility (CFF) was introduced, to help members cope with the implications of a temporary shortfall in export receipts, whilst in 1969 the Buffer Stock Financing Facility (BSFF) was introduced, to help members cope with the implications of contributing to international commodity schemes. Other, ostensibly more minor, but in effect perhaps more significant, modifications were also beneficial to LDCs, such as the review of small quotas, and the softening of the IMF line on certain exchange practices.