BLEEDING FRANCE.

Auckland Star, Volume LXXII, Issue 91, 18 April 1941, Page 8

BLEEDING FRANCE.

COST OF NAZI OCCUPATION. SKRIOfS ECONOMIC POSITION'. British Official Wireless. (Kord. 9.30 a.m.) RUGBY. April 17 oAh » a R a V"i- iS /V he latcst official returns o the Bank of Fiance made by the netvs- -- per frankfurter Zeitnnjr." throws light on the progressive inflation in France ■'"< the reasons for this worsening economic situation

On the side of assets-fiom March. 1040 when the figure for advances to the to"l eminent was 30 milliard francs, there was an increase to 46 milliards in June and to 146 milliards in December. Of the last sum occupation costs amounted to 72 milliards. On the side ot liabilities—note circulation rose over the same period from 156 milliards to 174 milliards in June and "MS milliards in December. There was also a debt of 41 milliards in December lotal monetary circulation—Bank of t ranee notes, occupation mark notes and coins rose in December to 288 milliards, ((.old assets throughout this period are given as 85 milliards.) Since then, it is pointed out in London. the note circulation must have increased so that by mid-March the monetary circulation must have risen to 310 milliards since advances in respect of occupation costs have risen to over 90 milliards. The conclusion to be drawn is that in 12 months to mid-March last monetary circulation rose by some 140 milliard francs, that is. by over 80 per cent. About twothirds of this inflation was due to Ger-man-levied costs ot occupation and onethird to Government expenditure and the failure of normal revenue since the collapse of France. For the second quarter in 1941 the V ichy Government's proposed ordinary budget has been reduced to 22,732 million francs, and great play is made of the fact that this was scaled down by one and a half milliards. The amount payable to the Germans for this quarter as cost of occupation is 36.400 million francs.

Thus the budget for all France is only 250 millions a day. compared with 400 millions a day as the cost of occupation. Thus, assuming there, is 1,000,000 German troops in France, Vichy has to pay out 400 francs a day per German compared to the budgetary allowance of only six francs per day per French civilian. The sum of 400 francs is far in excess of the actual cost, one reliable estimate being 125 francs. The credit over and above without doubt goes to securing illegal German control of France's industry—at the cost of Fiance.