Mr. A. T. DAVIESasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether a loan of £2,000,000 is to be advanced to the Austrian Government by the British Government; whether it is proposed that any portion of this loan shall be represented by goods in kind supplied by British manufacturers; and, if not, to what specific purpose is this £2,000,000 to be applied by the Austrian Government and under what control so far as the British Government is concerned?
§ Sir R. HORNEThe answer to the first part of the question is in the affirmative; by agreement with the Austrian Government the expenditure from the loan is to be controlled in Vienna by Mr. G. M. Young on behalf of the British Treasury. Its object is to enable Austria to continue its programme of financial reconstruction with an assurance of reasonable stability for the exchange value of the Kroner pending release of the liens on Austrian assets in respect of reparation and relief credits for use as security for private credits in accordance with the plan worked out by the Austrian Government in co-operation with the Financial 1255W Committee of the League of Nations. The terms do not include any stipulation that the loan should be used for the purchase of particular goods. Any such stipulation would defeat the purpose of the loan.