HC Deb 06 July 1944 vol 401 cc1349-50W
Mr. Wootton-Davies

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer the amount of British investments in the Argentine; the amount of such investments on which the fixed interest has not been paid in the last 10 years and the measure of full support given by His Majesty's Government to holders of such stock to enable them to recover the sums legally due to them.

Sir J. Anderson

It has been estimated that at the end of 1936 the total nominal capital in British ownership in Argentina quoted on the Stock Exchange was 372,000,000. No official computation is available of the amount of investments in public utilities or private industry on which fixed interest has not been paid during the last ten years, but the service of the public debt has always been maintained in full. During the past year or so public debt amounting to some £11,000,000 has been repaid at par to British holders. His Majesty's Government are fully alive to the importance of these investments and have at all times given full diplomatic support in cases in which their support was sought, and they were satisfied that British creditors were receiving unjust or differential treatment.