§ 42. Sir W. Smithersasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer approximately how much gold was held by the governments and central banks in all countries, at the most recent convenient date, and can he give figures for Great Britain, America, Russia and France for the years 1921 and at the latest convenient date.
§ Sir J. AndersonAs the answer contains a number of figures, I will, with my hon. Friend's permission, circulate it in the OFFICIAL REPORT.
§ Sir W. SmithersA mistake has crept into the Question. Would my right hon. Friend be good enough to include in the answer the year 1932? I want the quantity of gold for both years.
§ Following is the answer:
§ The published gold reserves of central banks and governments on December 31st, 1942, amounted to the equivalent of approximately £7,625 millions. This excludes our own and other gold reserves, the amount of which is not published at present.
§ The published gold reserves of the United Kingdom, United States of America and France on 31st December, 1921, were as follows:
| Millions of fine ounces | |
| United Kingdom | 36.9 |
| United States of America | 155.8 |
| France | 38.6 |
§ The published gold reserve of the United States of America in December, 1943, was 21,938 millions dollars, or about 626 million fine ounces.
§ No figures of the Russian gold reserves and no recent figures of those of the United Kingdom and France have been published.