§ 52. Mr. T. WILLIAMSasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer the amount of gold purchased by this country in America since the payment of the last instalment of the American debt, and the purpose of such purchases?
Mr. CHAMBERLAINIf the hon. Member has in mind recent purchases of gold by the Issue Department of the Bank of England, I may refer him to the published statements of the Bank. As he is aware, particulars of the dealings of the Exchange Equalisation Account are not published. It is, of course, common knowledge that for various reasons large amounts of foreign money have been coming here recently which are bad money in the sense that we cannot rely on retaining them. If no precautions were taken, these capital movements would result in a sharp rise in sterling to be followed later on by a sharp fall. I do not think anyone doubts that such fluctuations which are very harmful to trade should be limited as far as possible, but it is not in the general interest to state what particular methods may be adopted to check them.
§ Mr. HAMMERSLEYIs it not a fact that these recent additions of gold are to be regarded as merely flexible additions to the Bank's gold, and that it would be improper to regard them as a permanent addition to the gold reserve which might be used in future for external payments?