SHORTAGE OF GOLD

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22197, 6 December 1946, Page 6

SHORTAGE OF GOLD

POST-WAR MONEY SYSTEM PRICE RISE SUGGESTED LONDON, Dec. 4/ London financial opinion is increasingly questioning the adequacy of the present world gold production. A Financial Times article urges from the' viewpoint of a satisfactory postwar monetary system that it is of vital importance that the supply of gold should equal the increased demand stimulated by the revival of hoarding and the unbalanced state of international trade calling for large amounts of gold for the settlement of import surpluses. Ihe article adds that acceptance of the Bretton Woods plan by a large majority of countries has resulted in the adoption of a new form of gold standard, that gold will be in strong demand during the coming years, and that the only remedy for the threatened shortage is the increase in the price of gold in line with increased production costs. What is needed is an all-round increase of the price of gold in terms of the currencies of all countries participating in the Bretton Woods system. It would be for the British Government, together with the Governments of the gold-producing areas, to take the initiate to secure a decision in favour of such an increase at an early date.