§ 13. Mr. Walter Fletcherasked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs what steps e proposes to take to speed up or alter the system of payment for goods and raw materials imported into Germany by the Joint Export Import Agency and their present unsatisfactory purchasing methods.
§ Mr. BevinA scheme for decentralising the payments arrangements for imports into the combined zones from the Joint Foreign Exchange Agency to the German banks has been approved, and is being put into operation now. The effect of this 1211 scheme will be that payments will pass through ordinary commercial banking channels. I expect the new arrangement to come into force within a month or two from now, and I confidently expect that, as a result, the delays and difficulties which have arisen over these payments in the past will be eliminated.
§ Mr. FletcherWhile thanking the right hon. Gentleman for that reply, may I ask him if he could, in the intervening two or three months, see that there is a considerable speed-up, because the economic recovery of Germany is being seriously held up by the delays on the financial side of J.E.I.A.; and would he see that their purchasing methods are brought into line with those in this country?
§ Mr. BevinI am hoping, as a result of all the exchanges of views that have gone on to improve the situation in Germany considerably, not only in this, but in many other respects.