§ 63. Mr. WELLOCKasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether apart from Great Britain, any European country which took part in the Great War has paid or proposes to pay its debts in full or has paid interest to British bondholders in sterling?
§ Mr. CHURCHILLIt is scarcely possible within the scope of a Parliamentary answer to deal with all the cases that might fall under the hon. Member's question; and I must not be taken to be covering every case. But, generally speaking, the currencies of all the European belligerents, except Great Britain, have depreciated in varying degrees and 1918 public debts contracted in those currencies, although paid in full, may represent considerably less than their pre-War sterling equivalent. Pre-War debts expressly contracted in sterling are, so far as I am aware, normally being paid in full save where the bondholders have agreed to a partial remission as they have done in the case of the Austro-Hungarian and Bulgarian pre-War loans. The main exceptions are Turkey and Russia; and Turkey has signed an agreement with its bondholders which I hope will shortly be ratified, leaving Russia alone in its repudiation.