PROSPERITY IN EMPIRE

Press, Volume XC, Issue 27470, 2 October 1954, Page 7

PROSPERITY IN EMPIRE

Ministers Agree On Programme

(N.Z. Press Association—Copyright) (Jtec. 9 p.m.) WASHINGTON, Sept. 30. Representatives of eight nations of the British Commonwealth gathered around a table in the library of the British Embassy in Washington today in a four-hour discussion of ways to speed up the development of the Commonwealth's economic potential.

The gathering represented one-quar-ter of the world’s population in India, Pakistan, Britain, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Canada, and Ceylon.

Reuter’s diplomatic correspondent quoted authoritative sources as saying that the Commonwealth Finance Ministers and other representatives had agreed on a five-point programme for prosperity in the Commonwealth family of nations and the rest of the non-Communist world.

The prosperity programme embodied these objectives: (1) The sterling area must consolidate its progress in trade, develop its almost unlimited resources more quickly, and each member must hold down inflation as a contribu-

tion to collective economic health. (2) Britain and other nations of Europe had to step from behind the protective barrier of the European Payments Union and formulate a new plan in which some countries had currencies convertible with dollars while others

did not. (3) The United States must further

open its market to stimulate trade. (4) The International Monetary Fund must in the next few months work

towards more elastic co-operation in the field of credit. (5) New trading rules, which guaranteed long-term prospects in world commerce, had to be worked out—probably under the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade.

The Commonwealth Finance Ministers at the meeting were: Sir Arthur Fadden, of Australia; Sir Chintaman Deshmukh, of India; Mr Chaudri Mohammad Ali, of Pakistan; Mr M. D. H. Jayawardene, of Ceylon, and Mr Walter Harris, of Canada. Other representatives were: Mr B. Ash win, of New Zealand; Mr J. E. Holloway, of South Africa, and Mr Reginald Maulding. of the United Kingdom. The Commonwealth finance talks traditionally were on an informal basis. A formal communique was expected at the end of the meetings, scheduled to be completed in a twohour session tomorrow.

Other matters discussed by the Commonwealth representatives today included the problem of Japan’s reemergence as a world trading nation, disposal of American surplus commodities on the world market, and possibilities of a business recession in the United States.