CURRENCY PROBLEMS.

Waikato Times, Volume 113, Issue 18930, 27 April 1933, Page 7

CURRENCY PROBLEMS.

WORLD PLANS DISCUSSED.

SIMULTANEOUS DEVALUATION.

REDISTRIBUTION OF GOLD,

United Press Assn.—Elec. Tel. Copyright.

WASHINGTON, April 25

It is understood that one of the plans proposed during the Washington conversations for international currency devaluation, which is favoured by the State Department, has the following points:—That currencies should be devalued simultaneously. That, the “real value” of each currency should be taken as the devaluation gauge, by “real value”' being meant the price of any currency to which it would settle on international exchange if unsupported.

That devaluation should aim toward, an automatic redistribution of gold by fixing lower currency values in countries with small gold stocks, like Britain and Germany, than In countries with large gold stocks, such as France and the United States. This, it is argued, would automatically ■syphon gold into the countries with lower gold stocks.

Regulation to Sterling,

Financial experts interpret Mr Neville Chamberlain’s announcement, In his Budget speech, that the £150,000,000 Stabilisation Fund will be increased, as indicating a renewed determination on the part of ttye British Government to keep sterling from rising. As it is now' regarded as useless to attempt to peg sterling against the dollar, it is expected that the British Chancellor contemplates pegging sterling against the gold standard countries—France, Belgium, Holland and Switzerland. According to exchange experts, this possibly would result in the British exchange control drawing gold from these countries in the same manner as it drew on American gold holdings earlier this year. It is asked whether this would not present the gold countries with the alternative of abandoning gold. Gold Shipped to London. A total of 2,199,000 dollars’ worth of gold was shipped under licence to Britain to-day as the initial step in the repatriation of about 250,000,000 dollars’ worth of earmarked gold acquired during January and February through the operation of the Exchange Equalisation Fund before the suspension of American specie payments in March. LONDON, April 26. Fine gold is quoted to-day at £6 Is tin ounce, compared with £5 19s yesterday.