Economic Cooperation Administration
Suppose, in 1949, a German construction company had wished to purchase an American crane for reconstruction efforts in Germany. In a counterpart fund arrangement, company would have bought the crane from the West German government in Deutschmarks. The Deutschmarks would then have been deposited into the central bank. The Economic Cooperation Administration (ECA), the body mediating counterpart funds, would have paid the American crane exporter in $US authorized under the European Recovery Program (ERP). Meanwhile, the Deutschmarks would have been used to finance an ECA-approved recovery project.