 It is said that John Maynard Keynes was so impressed by the “dignity, ability and reasonableness” of Deshmukh that he recommended Deshmukh head the IMF as its first managing director a suggestion that was however rejected by the United States.He was a member of the Board of Governors of both of these institutions from 1946-1956.In 1950, he was elected Chairman of the Joint Annual Meeting of the Boards of Governors of these institutions at its Paris Conference.