BRETTON WOODS: The first of a series of world conferences on post-war problems has opened here with representatives of 44 United and associated nations attending. President Roosevelt called this International Monetary Conference because he had decided that the financial problems arising from the war were so urgent that their settlement could not wait until the cessation of hostilities.

The immediate task confronting the delegates is to set up an international office that will have power to control the exchange rate of the world’s currencies so as to forestall any possible “international inflation” that might result from this war. Two plans are before the conference. One by Lord Keynes and the other by the Secretary of the United States Treasury, Mr. Henry Morgenthau and his financial adviser, Mr. Harry White.

The other matter on the agenda will be the creation of “an international bank for reconstruction” to provide loans for war-devastated or economically under-developed countries … [T]hese loans would be equally made available to France, Egypt, India, Brazil and other countries.

Published in Dawn, July 1st, 2019