§ Mr. Emeryasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he is aware that Brazil, by defaulting, has extinguished £200,000,000 of British savings, lent to the Brazilian Government, states, municipal and public utility authorities, and now enjoyed by Brazil; and, as this has deprived the British Exchequer of Income Tax and Surtax and Death Duties upon that amount, will he now protect the British revenue by retaining the value of our war purchases from Brazil until she respects the contracts by which she obtained British savings?
§ Sir J. SimonThe figure given by my hon. Friend is substantially in excess of the amount of the Brazilian sterling debt482W held in the United Kingdom. My hon. Friend will have seen that an interim arrangement has now been offered by the Brazilian Government for the external debt of Brazil and that the offer has been recommended for acceptance by the Council of Foreign Bondholders.
§ Sir J. Leechasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether, in view of the need for investing British savings in foreign countries with which to pay for war-time imports, he will devise a policy for the Government to defend British foreign investments instead of acting through the Council of Foreign Bondholders, so that many hundreds of millions of British savings shall not be maltreated by foreign Governments and rendered valueless as instruments of exchange?
§ Sir J. SimonI would refer my hon. Friend to the full statement made on this subject by my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister in reply to a Question on 14th February, 1938, of which I am sending him a copy. As pointed out in that statement, His Majesty's Government regard this subject as one of very great importance, and this is specially the case in present circumstances. My right hon. Friend said that the existing arrangements afford the best and most practical means of safeguarding the interests of this country in the matter, and, after carefully considering the question afresh, I see no reason to depart from this view.