DOLLAR IMPORTS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 27573, 15 December 1950, Page 6

DOLLAR IMPORTS

Move For Relaxation PRESSURE FROM HARD CURRENCY AREAS NZPA—Copyright Rec. 7 p.m. TORQUAY, Dec. 14. Britain, Australia, New Zealand, Ceylon and Southern Rhodesia agreed today to study the possibility of relaxing the ban on imports from dollar areas. Representatives of the five Commonwealth countries at the world trade and tariff conference at Torquay said they would inform their Governments of • the hard .currency nations viewpoint. The effort to obtain a relaxation of the import bans was led by the United States, Belgium, Cuba, and Canada. A spokesman for the four nations and the International Monetary Fund urged progressive relaxation with “due caution, having regard to present uncertainties.” A spokesman for the Commonwealth group countered with the charge that the hard currency nations gave ‘ undue weight to the favourable factors in progress in the sterling area during the past year and insufficient attention to the adverse factors. He did not explain the adverse factors but added that their full force would not be felt until next year. British. New Zealand and Australian representatives stressed that they would have new responsibilities under the current rearmament programmes. The International Monetary Fund spokesman said his organisation believed that no further hard currency relaxations were feasible .in present circumstances in Chile, India or Pakistan.