BRITAIN MAY WIN DOLLAR BATTLE BY 1953

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXXVI, Issue 22869, 12 February 1949, Page 5

BRITAIN MAY WIN DOLLAR BATTLE BY 1953

(N.Z.P. A.—Reuter —Copyright.) i WASHINGTON, Feb. 10. Britain had a fair chance of balancing her dollar account by 1952-53, said Mr. Thomas Finletter. head of the Economic Cooperation Administration mission to the United Kingdom to the House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee today, when urging approval of a continued E.C.A. programme that would allocate Britain 940,000,000 dollars for the year beginning on Julvl.

He said: “Britain is putting out a great and admirable-effort of self-disci-pline and sacrifice to win the peacetime battle of the dollar. My conclusion is that the United Kingdom has satisfied its obligations of self-help and mutual help and that Britain's past record and programme for periods ending June 30. 1950 and June 30. 1952 give promise that Britain has a real chance of getting herself in an approximate balance on the dollar account by 1952-53—providing world political and economic conditions show some reasonable improvement for the next three years.” “The big question mark is whether Britain can achieve the target of increasing exports to the Western Hemisphere to 183 per cent, of pre-war. ‘lt depends on British costs, on the Western Hemisphere’s willingness to buy, on competition from other countries, (including low cost producers such as Japan), on the policies of British management in the choice of products to be exported and, above all, on the political structure of the world.” The committee plastered Mr. Averell Harriman, _ E.C.A. roving ambassador with questions about the effect of nationalisation on British economy.

Mr. Harriman said: "I have seen no change for the worse in Britain as a result of socialism.”