Statement by the President Following a Meeting With the Advisory Committee on International Monetary Arrangements.
I MET today with Secretary Fowler and his Advisory Committee on International Monetary Arrangements. We had a brief discussion of the United States balance of payments situation and the international monetary system.
There was complete agreement on the necessity for the United States to eliminate its balance of payments deficit quickly and to maintain payments equilibrium for a prolonged period.
While we were all pleased with the indications that my balance of payments program, announced February 10, seems to be taking hold, and that the business and financial community is doing a splendid job of voluntary cooperation, we are well aware that it is still much too early to get an accurate picture of just where we stand.
Secretary Fowler is moving ahead effectively to prepare for international agreement on solving any future problem of world liquidity which might arise after we have successfully maintained equilibrium for an extended period. He has put together an excellent committee and I am confident that, under the leadership of Douglas Dillon, they will provide him with the best talent and advice available in this area to supplement the resources in the Government on this vital subject.
Note: The statement was made public as part of a White House release announcing the President's meeting with the new Advisory Committee on International Monetary Arrangements. Establishment of the Committee by Secretary of the Treasury Henry H. Fowler was announced by the White House on July 3.
In addition to the President's statement the July 16 release contained statements by Secretary Fowler and by C. Douglas Dillon, Chairman of the Advisory Committee on International Monetary Arrangements.
In his statement Secretary Fowler said that the Committee was in unanimous agreement that the U.S. proposal for an international conference on the potential problem of world financial resources was an important step in the right direction. He added that he had set before the Committee the general framework of present U.S. policy including the following points:
"1. The importance of the United States eliminating its own deficit as promptly as possible as a necessary precondition to modification of the international monetary system.
"2. The importance of a flexible approach, not only by the United States but by other countries, in discussing international monetary arrangements.
"3. The need for thorough and careful preparation to promote fruitful negotiations on the international level.
"4. The need to build upon the existing system by making maximum use of present instruments of international financial cooperation which have served so effectively in the past.
"5. The necessity to maintain the dollar as the principal reserve currency in order to foster continuing stability in the international trade and pay national level.
The release also included the names of the Government officials who attended the meeting, together with the following Committee members: Edward Bernstein, Kermit Gordon, Charles Kindleberger, Andre Meyer, David Rockefeller, and Robert V. Roosa.
Lyndon B. Johnson, Statement by the President Following a Meeting With the Advisory Committee on International Monetary Arrangements. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/241516