HC Deb 08 May 1969 vol 783 cc120-1W
Mr. Temple

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what are the terms of the gold guarantee given last September to external holders of sterling in terms of the United States dollar; and what provision was made for alterations in the relative values of sterling or the dollar;

(2) what is his estimate of the total amount of sterling balances, subject to the gold guarantee at September, 1968, at 5th April, 1969; and whether an upper limit has been fixed for these balances;

(3) what are the terms of the gold guarantee given last September to external holders of sterling balances, expressed in terms of the weight of the gold content of the £ sterling;

(4) whether the terms of the gold guarantee given to external holders of sterling are the same for individuals, institutions and external governments.

Mr. Harold Lever

The sterling agreements concluded last summer do not include a gold guarantee; the guarantee—the terms of which are set out in the agreements published in Cmnd. 3834—is of the sterling value in terms of the U.S. dollar of the eligible balances. The sterling agreements, under each of which an identical guarantee is available, were offered to and concluded with only Governments of sterling area countries and certain monetary authorities covering more than one such country. No upper limit has been fixed for the amount of the balances guaranteed, but all such balances must satisfy the definition set out in the agreements—as published in Cmnd. 3834. The latest available figure of the amount of guaranteed balances is for end-December 1968; they were then about £1,750 million.