§ 2 and 3. Mr. Ian Lloydasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) whether it remains Her Majesty's Government's policy to discontinue the purchase of newly-mined gold by the Bank of England for monetary purposes, either from South Africa or other sources, indefinitely;
§ (2) what discussions have taken place with the South African Treasury or Reserve Bank on the future gold buying policy of Her Majesty's Government; and with what result.
§ The Chancellor of the Exchequer (Mr. Roy Jenkins)I have nothing to add to the Washington communiqué with regard to the Government's policy towards the buying and selling of monetary gold, about which I made a statement to the House on 18th March. Discussions with South Africa have been confined to normal Central Bank contacts.—[Vol. 752, c. 40–9.]
§ Mr. LloydDoes this mean that the size of the United Kingdom gold reserves will depend entirely on its balance of payments with the other nine of the Group of Ten, and that there is no question of accepting either newly-mined gold or monetary gold from outside this Group?
§ Mr. JenkinsI do not think that the hon. Gentleman is right in that assumption. We could acquire gold from sources other than those within the terms of the Washington communiqué.