Amount spent by the U.S. on (now-inactive) foreign loan programs during the Cold War between 1946 and 1988 (in millions of constant and 2018 U.S. dollars)

Loan (last year of funding)	Historical U.S. dollars	2018 U.S. dollars
British loan (1947)	3,750	35,680.3
Domestic Surplus (1948)	4.9	42.61
Merchant Ships (1948)	1.2	10.43
Overseas Surplus (1948)	43.5	426.42
Lend Lease Silver (1949)	61.3	646.88
Government & Relief in Occupied Areas - GARIOA (1950)	800	6,859.81
Philippines Funding (1951)	34	275.08
COG Offset to Grant (1952)	490	4,276.52
Defense Mobilization Development (1953)	6.4	48.95
Strategic Materials Development (1954)	11.6	88.98
Defense Materials Development (1960)	61.1	510.23
UN Headquarters and Bonds (1964)	141.3	1,035.75
Reconstruction Finances Corp RFC Note (1969)	63	587.28
Atomic Energy (1972)	16.7	100.8
Ryukyu Statement (1972)	320	1,508.72
U.S. Surplus Property (1972)	1,430.6	13,898.66
European Atomic Community (1974)	72.4	431.25
Emergency Food Aid (1975)	242.2	1,755.53
Binational Center Loans (1984)	2.42	9.27
Admin Area Development (1987)	11.15	72.86
Social Progress Trust Fund - Loans (1988)	500.43	3,170.05

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Release date

January 2018

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Region

Worldwide, United States

Survey time period

1946 to 1988

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U.S. foreign loan programs ending between 1946 and 1988 combined to give a total amount of 8.1 billion U.S. dollars (71.44 billion FY2018 dollars). The largest of these programs, making up almost half of the overall total, was the British Loan (also known as the Anglo-American loan). The war had bankrupted the British economy by 1946, and this loan was given to aid the UK's recovery. To secure these funds, the British government sent a delegation to the U.S., which was led by renowned economist John Maynard Keynes, in what would be his last major endeavor before his death a few weeks later. Instead of the grant that was expected, the delegation returned with a loan, totaling at 3.75 billion U.S. dollars from the United States, and an additional 1.2 billion U.S. dollars from Canada. Both came with a relatively low interest rate of two percent, although the loan was not fully repaid until 2006 (six years behind schedule). With interest, the British government repaid 7.5 billion dollars to the U.S., which was double the original sum. In addition to this loan, British recovery was also assisted through Marshall Plan grants and a boom in American investment during the post-war period.

The second-largest loan program active during this time were loans that dealt with surplus property, giving a combined figure of 1.43 billion dollars between the Second World War and 1972. Such programs were replaced by the founding of the Defense Reutilization and Marketing Service (now known as the Defense Logistics Agency Disposition Services), which internationally deals with humanitarian aid and military sales, and the relocation or reutilization of U.S. property.
At 800 million dollars, GARIOA was the third-largest foreign loan program that ended during the Cold War. This program primarily dealt with providing food and humanitarian aid to the occupied areas of West Germany, Austria and Japan, and actually totaled at 4.5 billion dollars combined. In terms of the 800 million dollars given in loans, all of this was distributed to West Germany.