§ 54. Colonel Crosthwaite-Eyreasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer the total amount of sterling balances held by residents outside the United Kingdom which has been converted into gold, dollars or other hard currencies since 20th August, 1947; and of this total, how much was converted for benefit of countries outside the sterling area.
§ Sir S. CrippsI regret I cannot give the hon. and gallant Member the information in the form he requests. Figures are published from time to time of gross sales of gold, drawings on the U.S. and Canadian Credits and drawings from the International Monetary Fund. Apart from changes in working balances, these measure the net expenditure of gold and dollars from the central reserves of the United Kingdom and the sterling area. It is impossible to give at frequent intervals a more detailed breakdown of our use of dollars.
§ Colonel Crosthwaite-EyreIf the Chancellor refuses to give this type of information, as he does consistently in this House, how can any hon. Member judge of the financial position of the country, or judge on the White Papers and targets the right hon. and learned Gentleman constantly issues?
§ Sir S. CrippsI do not think I have constantly refused to give the information. I think this is the first occasion on which I have refused, but I hope the information which is available will be sufficient to enable hon. Members to do what the hon. and gallant Gentleman suggests.
§ 55. Colonel Crosthwaite-Eyreasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer which countries are at present entitled to claim conversion of their current sterling balances into currencies other than dollars; and whether His Majesty's Government have, in all or any of the cases concerned, ensured reciprocity in respect of British holdings of the currencies of the countries concerned.
§ Sir S. CrippsIf the Question refers to countries outside the scheduled territories, the answer is "None, Sir," although the central banks of certain countries with whom we have monetary agreements are entitled to offset sterling they hold against our holdings of their currencies and vice versa.
§ Colonel Crosthwaite-EyreWill the Chancellor say—which is the purport of this Question—how it affects the scheduled areas?
§ Sir S. CrippsI was under the impression that the Question related to territories outside the scheduled territories. So far as the scheduled territories are concerned, they have the right to transferability and convertibility according to the 1501 needs and customs of the case, and also the agreements specifically made with them.
§ 56. Colonel Crosthwaite-Eyreasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what action has been taken by His Majesty's Government to avoid inflationary pressure and unrequited exports through the expenditure of £1,750 million held by countries with which His Majesty's Government have not yet concluded a funding agreement.
§ Sir S. CrippsAction in many forms, including an appeal for economy to the governments of the scheduled territories and trade and payments arrangements with other countries.