FINANCE CAPITALISTS

Grey River Argus, 5 July 1944, Page 3

FINANCE CAPITALISTS

POST-WAR PLANS For Worldwide Money Lending (Rec 9.20.) WASHINGTON, July »■ Lord Keynes, British economist, aadresstri the World Bank Commission at Bretton Woods. He outlined a plan for the establishment of a ten thousand million dollar international bank for reconstruction. He said the Bank would serve to guarantee international loans. He described this scheme as. a sound fundamental contribution to the post-war task of rebuilding the world and as one which would promote expansion, but not inflation. He added that the plan had originated in the United States Treasury. Lord Keynes explained that most of the international loans would come from the United States. It was the world’s largest creditor nation. Risks, however, would be shared by all countries that became members or the bank in proportion to their capacity. Lord Keynes urged that there be speedy consideration of the plan, so that a bank could be ready at the end of the war, and could enable liberated countries to proceed with reconstruction, and to re-enter world trade as quickly as possible.. He warned that delays might prevent the establishment of orderly Governments and might postpone the return of Allied soldiers to the home lands. It is pointed out that this international bank programme is entirely separate from the proposals for an international monetary fund, which also is under consideration at the Bretton Woods bankers’ commission, but that both plans are closely related to a broad United Nations programme for post-war economic co-operation. The “New York Times’s” correspondent says: Lord Keynes laid emphasis on the soundness of the plan for an international plan, and on its American origin. This is regarded, as an attempt to counteract the criticisms that the proposals alike for an international bank and for an international monetary fund are both of British origin and that the proposals are cleverly designed to entrap the United States into playing the role of Santa Claus after the war.

REVERSE LEND-LEASE

1944 OPERATIONS. LONDON, July 3

Mr Leo Crowley, the United States Lend-Lease Administrator, in a report issued at Washington, said: In the first three months of 1944 the Briitish Commonwealth provided lend-lease to the United States Army and Navy overseas and to our merchant shipping overseas considreably in excess of 2,000,000,000 dollars. Expenditures of Britain, Australia and New Zealand for reverse lend-lease supplies and services provided without payment to United States forces between January 1 and April 1, 1944, amounted to 48,350,000 dollars. “Partial figures indicate that more than 35,000,000 dollars have been expended in India for reverse lendlease aid for the United States forces during this period. These figures include only reverse lend-lease aid furnished to the American forces and shipping overseas and do not include strategic raw materials and commodities (except benzol) and foodstuffs furnished by the British under reverse lend-lease without cost for shinment to the United States. “Reverse lend-lease supplies and services from the Brit’sh, like American lend-lease aid to the British, have played a vital role in preparing for the operations for the liberation of Europe. One of the biggest lastminute rush jobs done for us by the British was the waterproofing of many hundreds of wading tanks, as well as trucks and other mechanised equipment, so that they would reach the invasion beaches in fighting condition after ploughing through the surf. To get it done in time the entire output of the British steel rolling industry was taken for three months. This is only one of the many thousands of categories of supplies and services provided from British stocks or by British facilities to the American forces taking part in the liberation of Europe."