The buildings as originally planned were estimated to cost nearly $85 million. At the direction of Secretary-General Trygve Lie, however, the designers cut the cost by $20 million, largely by reducing the height of the Secretariat Building from 45 to 39 storeys. They did this by reducing the size of the conference areas and by utilizing an existing building on the site for the United Nations Library. The $65 million plan was approved by the General Assembly on 20 November 1947.
To finance construction, the United States Government made an interest-free loan of $65 million to the United Nations. Of this amount, the last installment of $1 million was paid in 1982.
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