§ 1. Mr. Bellengerasked the President of the Board of Trade whether he is aware that official statistics have been issued in Rome of the amount of Italy's trade debts which have been redeemed under the clearing agreement of November last; and whether he is now in a position to give the House any information on this matter?
§ The President of the Board of Trade (Mr. Oliver Stanley)I am aware that, according to newspaper reports, certain particulars of the trade debts due to this country from Italy which had been liquidated under the Clearing Agreement of 6th November last were given recently in an official statement made in the Italian Senate, but I am not aware that the Italian Government publish official statistics on this subject. As regards the second part of the question, I would refer the hon. Member to the monthly statements issued by the Anglo-Italian Clearing Office which are published in the Board of Trade Journal. The total of the payments in respect of arrears of trade debts which had been made to United Kingdom creditors at the close of business on 15th July was £1,755,346.