§ 42. Mr. William Shepherdasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what demands, in excess of contributions, will be made by the sterling area upon the dollar pool during the present year.
§ Sir S. CrippsIt would not be wise for me to try to forecast what the balance for the year will eventually be. But I am well satisfied, from the course of day-to-day consultations with the sterling area Governments, that they are all, like ourselves, doing their utmost to help ease the strain on the central reserves.
§ Mr. ShepherdAre we to understand from the Chancellor's reply that the Government are satisfied that there will be no leakage from the sterling area during this year and that they have not committed themselves to any repayment of balances which will have the effect of causing a drain upon our dollar resources?
§ Sir S. CrippsI could never be satisfied that there will be no leakages, because that is an almost impossibly optimistic view, but I think we have very largely reduced the chances of leakages, and there will be no releases of sterling that will affect the dollar balances beyond those agreed sums which the House knows about already in the agreements which have been arrived at.