§ Mr. F. JOWETTasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will inform the House of Commons of the exact amounts of the debts owed by foreign Governments to Great Britain incurred since August, 1914; what amounts of principal and interest have been repaid by the various Governments; what amount of interest has been charged in respect of the loans; whether any payments have been made to these foreign Governments by Great Britain notwithstanding the existence of these debts and the date of such payments and to which Governments they were made: whether any of those Governments have defaulted in the payment of the interest and the capital sums due; what was the date of the last communication by the British Government to such Governments concerning their liabilities; and if he will lay any correspondence with foreign Governments concerning debts owed to Breat Britain upon the Table of the House of Commons'?
§ Major B0YD - CARPENTERThe amount of the sums owed by foreign Governments to this country on account of War Loans and Loans for Relief and Reconstruction as on 31st March, 1922, was £2,017,219,253 10s. 4d. Details will be found on page 96 of the Finance Accounts of the United Kingdom, 1921–22. (House 545W of Commons Paper No. 88.) The amounts of principal and interest repaid each year are also shown in the Annual Finance Accounts,e.g., on pages 24 and 34 of die Finance Accounts for 1921–22. Since March, 1919, in the case of France and since June, 1919, in the case of other Allied Governments, sums due by Great Britain to Allied Governments which are themselves indebted to this country have not been paid in cash but set-off against the debts due to this country. As regards the greater part of the debt interest as it fell due has been added to capital and additional bonds obtained. Apart from Russia, (including Armenia), no Government has actually defaulted, though correspondence is proceeding with Serbia and Poland as regards non-delivery of bonds. No special communication on the subject of Russian Government debts has been made by His Majesty's Government. Although, as the hon. Member is aware, the matter was discussed at the Genoa Conference. The Note addressed to the Allies on 1st August last on the subject of Inter-Allied Debts (the "Balfour Note ") and the Proceedings of the Conferences on Reparation and Inter-Allied Debt held in December and January last have already been laid before the House; there has been no other recent correspondence of a general nature.