BRITISH EXPORT PROGRAMME

Press, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 25307, 6 October 1947, Page 7

BRITISH EXPORT PROGRAMME

Curtailment of Home Expenditure BIGGER FACTORY OUTPUT URGED (Rec. 11.45 p.m.) LONDON, October 4. The Minister of Economic Affairs (Sir- Stafford Cripps), speaking at Cardiff, said the amount involved in the postponement of expenditure on factory and house building and the provision of new machinery for industries would probably be not less -han £200,000,000 a year. There might have to be new tobacco cuts. Britain’s annual import needs were £700.000,000 worth of foodstuffs and feeding-stuffs, £650,000,000 worth of raw materials and supplies for industry, and £200,000,000 worth of oil, tobacco, and various manufactured goods. These, with Governmental overseas expenditure, which the Government hoped to reduce considerably in the near future by troop withdrawals from Bfirma and the European States with which peace treaties had been signed, totalled £1.650.000,000. This was the absolutely essential minimum of foreign exchange.

‘'Even if we balance our total overseas payments by the middle of 1948. which is our aim, this will still leave us unbalanced in our dollar payments,” he continued. “Every week means further drawing on our reserves, and if they fall markedly further we shall reach the point where we shall have to cut imports again if we have not achieved a balance by that time.”

Foreign Exchange Dealing with methods of earning foreign exchange, Sir Stafford Cripps said that about 320,000 tourists spent an estimated £16,000,000 in foreign exchange in Britain in the last season. Britain still had net receipts of about £75,000,000 a year from foreign investments.

“We must export 140 per cent, of the 3948 volume of exports to meet the £1,500,000,000 balance of payments, but as some 1948 exports, like coal, have disappeared or almost dis* appeared, we will have to go up to 200 or 300 per cent, in some items to get an average of 140 per cent, over all.” he said. “Not even home demands must be allowed to stand in the way, or our whole economy wjll collapse with disastrous results. “I do not believe that there is any industry ip Britain which cannot achieve increased production without new machinery or more labour. We must try to calculate far more accurately the matching of our resources in materials and labour to our production. This calls tor not less but far more control, but controls must be effective, while causing the least interference with initiative. We cannot afford high profits, salaries, or wages at present.” Sir Stafford Cripps added that it was not the time to abandon Socialist beliefs. because the country's troubles could never be solved by laissez faire capitalism.