What was the Stamp Plan for International Monetary System?

Neither the Triffin plan nor the Bernstein proposal is designed to cater to the special needs of underdeveloped countries. And IMF has been severely criticised that it has not been able to assist underdeveloped countries in their endeavours for economic development.

There is no agency that provides working capital to these countries. It has been opined by many that the IMF should also function as an agency to provide such capital to these newly developing countries. The Stamp Plan (named after its author Maxwell Stamp, a former British Director of the IMF) has been devised with this objective in mind. Mr. Stamp proposed that the IMF should be authorised to issue “Fund Certificates” to the value of say $3 billion each year.

The purchasing countries will become member of an aid coordinating agency. The function of this agency will be to loan out the sale of the Fund certificates to the underdeveloped countries. A country having Fund certificates can use these certificates for the settlement of balance of payments with mutual agreements. The Stamp Plan also proposed that there should be a regular market for the Fund certificates where the deficit (or surplus) countries will be able to sell (or purchase) such certificates in settlement of their payment deficits (or surpluses).

However, it is doubtful whether, the developed countries would accept this proposal inasmuch as they would like to aid the poor countries only through existing international agencies like the World Bank and IFC. Secondly, while the Stamp Plan does increase international liquidity, it does not seek to afford any protection to the key currencies from speculative flights. Furthermore, a possible drawback of the plan is that it has no built-in way of determining who should get the aid and to what extent.