TheJamaica Accords were a set of international agreements that ratified the end of theBretton Woods monetary system.[1] They took the form of recommendations to change the "articles of agreement" that theInternational Monetary Fund (IMF) was founded upon.[2] The agreement was concluded after meetings by a committee of the board of governors of the IMF, held on 7–8 January 1976 atKingston,Jamaica.[3]
The accords allowed the price ofgold tofloat with respect to theU.S. dollar and other currencies, albeit within a set of agreed constraints. In practice the dollar had been floating in this way, in contravention of the articles of an agreement of the IMF, after theNixon shock in 1971. The accords also made provisions for financial assistance todeveloping countries representing theGroup of 77 member countries to compensate for lost earnings from the export of primary commodities.[4] An amendment was made in 1978 to allow for the creation ofSpecial Drawing Rights, described as a low-costline of credit for developing countries.[5]
