§ 53. Wing-Commander Hulbertasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will circulate a statement showing the outstanding investments made by the Treasury under the Trade Facilities Act and the date of the last investment.
§ Sir J. AndersonYes, Sir. I am circulating a statement in the OFFICIAL REPORT.
§ Following is the statement:
§ I assume that my hon. Friend is referring to guarantees given by the Treasury under the Trade Facilities Acts, 1921–26. The total sum guaranteed under those Acts was £72,093,767. Some of the loans so guaranteed were converted and guaranteed under Section 25 of the Finance Act, 1934. The present Exchequer liability is £8,298,449 in respect of loans still guaranteed under the Acts of 1921–26, and £17,965,841 in respect of conversions under the Act of 1934. The total amount issued from the Consolidated Fund in fulfilment of the above guarantees is £10,524,117, and of that amount £4,859,340 has so far been recovered. Apart from the powers in respect of conversions referred to above, the power of the Treasury to give guarantees under the Trade Facilities Acts expired in 1927. In certain cases the loan operations arising from commitments made before that date were not completed for several years afterwards.