HC Deb 14 February 1956 vol 548 cc2159-60
31. Colonel Crosthwaite-Eyre

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what repayments of dollar loans incurred during the war were made in the immediate postwar years.

Sir E. Boyle

In the years 1945 to 1951, 296 million United States dollars on the Reconstruction Finance Corporation Loan and 402 and 12 million Canadian dollars on the interest-free loans from Canada and Newfoundland respectively.

Colonel Crosthwaite-Eyre

May I ask my hon. Friend whether he will circulate that reply to hon. Members on the Opposition Front Bench, particularly in view of their constant statement that repayments of war-time loans was one of the main reasons why the American Loan was so quickly exhausted?

Mr. H. Hynd

Is it not the fact that these loans are being repaid by £s which are worth much less than they were when the amounts were borrowed?