| Participants of the Second Annual Meetings at the reception, London, September 1947 |
Background The first Annual Meetings of the Board of Governors of the World Bank Group and the International Monetary Fund were held in Washington, DC in 1946. The Second Annual Meetings took place in London from September 11 through September 20, 1947 and were attended by Governors and their Alternates from the 45 member countries of the two institutions. Meeting Agenda The London meeting agenda, drawn up by the Joint Procedures Committee of Bank and Fund and approved by the Governors at the opening session, included: Second Annual Report of the Bank Financial statements and annual audit Administrative budget for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1948 Application of the Republic of Finland for membership in the Bank Proposed increases in the subscriptions of Iran and Egypt to the capital stock of the Bank Selection of the Advisory Council of the Bank Proposed liaison agreement between the Bank and the United Nations Site of future annual meetings Loan regulations Proposed election of a fourteenth Executive Director The Indian Independence (International Arrangements) Order, 1947 (International Bank Notes, Vol. 1, September 19, 1947, No. 11)
Second Annual Report of the World Bank Group 
| | Second Annual Meetings participants at the reception, London, September 1947 |
The Second Annual Meetings were opened by the Right Honorable Hugh Dalton, Chancellor of the Exchequer of Great Britain, and Chairman of the Bank’s Board of Governors. The Opening Session was followed by a presentation of the second Annual Report of the Bank to the Board of Governors by World Bank President John McCloy. As part of the effort to include staff members providing support from Headquarters during the meetings, the report booklet was distributed to them on the day it was presented in London. In his remarks accompanying the presentation of the report, Mr. McCloy stressed the importance of the “productive” feature of the Bank’s loans not only from the point of view of the Bank but also the relationship between nations. He indicated that great strain upon international amity is created by loans “which leave behind merely an obligation to repay, without corresponding benefits for those who must bear the burden of repayment. The sum total is impairment rather than improvement of relations within the international community”. (International Bank Notes, Vol. 1, September 19, 1947, No. 11) Travel to London 
| | Participants of the Second Annual Meetings at the reception, London, September 1947 |
The Bank and Fund representatives traveled to London by sea on the Queen Elizabeth in two groups, one sailed on August 16, and the largest group of Executive Directors and staff members sailed from New York on September 3, 1947. One of the staff members from the Administration Department, Anthony Balasy, shared his impressions of the trip to London for the Second Annual Meetings in an article published in the International Bank Notes (Vol. 1, October 3, 1947, No. 12): “It has been said that the length of a trip must be measured not by the miles covered nor by the days spent in traveling, but by the depth of the impressions received. If this be true, the journey to London for the annual meeting of the Governors was a lasting experience for all participants. "The sea as we sailed east was calm and dull, not unlike those exasperating people who don’t know how to wear the marks of anger. The passengers danced and made merry to their hearts’ content. As we steamed up the Solent and viewed the English coast, our thoughts went back to the years when those very shores bore the brunt of a savage onslaught. And there was Southampton lying in the sun with its many wounds just healing to a scar. "We landed about five o’clock in the afternoon and arrived in London by nightfall. Through dimly lit streets we reached our hotels and woke up next morning to a week of meetings and excitement, during which the heartbeats of London aroused our keenest curiosity. 
| | Other participants at the reception, London, September 1947 |
"One has read so much about conditions in England – here was our chance to see for ourselves. The conditions of everyday life are difficult; the economic crisis is still deepening, yet I never heard one word of complaint. This reticence may be characteristic of the English, but I couldn’t help remembering the lines of Galsworthy that only those strong enough to keep silent about self are strong enough to be sure of self. "Moreover, the inescapable feeling of political stability makes it difficult for the casual observer to measure the extent of the inroads on England’s social and economic structure. For those who knew London in the days of peace and prosperity the picture of today is comparable to that of a wintry tree – alive indeed, but stripped of its shining splendor”. 2007 Annual Meetings of the Boards of Governors of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank Group, October 20-22, 2007, Washington, D.C. Annual and Spring Meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank Group Annual Meetings hosted in Member Countries Previously Featured Documents/Photos This is the October 2007 Photo of the Month, produced by the World Bank Group Archives to highlight the World Bank's contributions to development. |
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