G-5 Money Club Agrees to Invite Canada, Italy

The exclusive Group of Five monetary club today agreed to invite Italy and Canada into its discussions, but only after a protracted wrangle.

Delegates said Italy was forced to issue strong threats to disrupt the Tokyo summit in order to overcome U.S. reluctance to letting it and Canada into the top-secret talks.

Washington feared that a wider grouping would dilute the effectiveness of the Group of Five, which last year reached a decision at the Plaza Hotel in New York to push down the dollar.

“Following the Plaza agreement last year, which was a meeting in which the normally reticent and modest G-5 indulged in a great deal of ballyhoo, this attracted the attention of those who were not members of the G-5,” British Chancellor of the Exchequer Nigel Lawson said.

Participation Invited

In the end today, the five nations--Britain, France, Japan, the United States and West Germany--agreed to invite participation from their two partners at the Tokyo summit whenever Italy and Canada felt they should be consulted.

The only loser seemed to be the European Commission, which had pushed hard for inclusion in the decision-making process but in the end was left out, delegates said.

The exclusion of the European Commission led French President Francois Mitterrand to abstain from the agreement, one diplomat said.

Delegates said it was unclear exactly what difference the pact would make in future decisions to manipulate currency and interest rates.