§ Mr. Sydney Irvingasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what proposals the EEC Commission has made for special community loans to enable member States to deal with fluctuations in their balance of payments; and how he sees this operating in respect to Great Britain's problems.
§ Mr. DellThe Council of Ministers agreed on 18th November to offer four-year assistance to Italy under the EEC inter-governmental medium-term credit facility, to replace short-term central bank credit which had previously been made available. The United Kingdom obtained exemption from participation, as provided for countries themselves having balance of payments difficulties, but has offered to roll over its existing short-term credit. The total amounts involved are nearly $1–9 billion, including the United Kingdom short-term assistance of $486–5 million, which has been provided in the form of temporary investment of part of the assets of the Exchange Equalisation Account. The EEC is continuing discussion on the detailed arrangements for community loans to member States based on finance raised externally.
The United Kingdom has no immediate plans for seeking assistance from the Community under any of these headings.