Marshall Aid Nations Reach Vital Agreement

Chronicle (Levin), 2 July 1949, Page 5

Marshall Aid Nations Reach Vital Agreement

(N.Z.P.A.-

—Reuter

, Copyrignt),

Received Fridav r.ou p.m. PARIS, July 1. The full eouncil ot' tlie (Jrgaiusafbui for European Economic Rejcovery eprly fhis morning re&ched an agreement on proposals fpr the financing of Ea fope's trade. United States' MarshalJ Aid rqving ambassador, Mr Averil» jlaryiman, said at'ter the meeting thai |.9 areas in tlie aid progranime had •"reached complete agreement on every thing. ' ' Thp Seeretary-General, Mr Robert jUarjollin, said coraplete agreement was yeached on tlie two essentip.1 questions pf transferability and vvhat he callgd '"the Belgian ease." Reuter's Paris correspondent says Bome of the points in the new agreement are: r-.- " Firstly, the Belgian surplus of t^al- {( gnce of payinents with West Europe, cannot exceed 440,000,000 dollars (£110,000,01)0). Belgium will take r« strictive nieasures in agreement with other countries, to preyent this iigure being exceeded. Secondly, the Belgian deficit wjth tlie dollar eurrency area is lixed at 200,000, 000 dollars (£50,000,000). Thirdly, 25 per cent of credits grauted each other by Marshali Aid countries can be used anywhere throughout the group instead qf merely between one country and another. Fourthly, Belgium which is" Europe 's biggest creditor nation, will agree to take credits of Belgian francs worth up to 87,500,000 dollars (£2 available to other Marshali Plan Ejirqpean countries to increase trade in r-u rope. Britain, Franee and the Netherlands are countries which will chiefty benelit froni new Belgian credits. One of the knottiest problems O.E.K.C. experts had to face was that of moving a Belgian commodity surplus without upsetting the European economic balance. Belgian eurrency i.one of the scareest on the Cojitinent and experts had to solve how to move Belgian goods whic)i other countries need, vet keep Belgium 's eurrency from becoming scarcer and her reserves of dollars and gold froui growing. The agreement sliowed that Sir Stafford Cripps' views had largelv prevailed. The principle of convert'.bility of a portion of the drawing rights into dollars, had been abandoned. The question as to whether transferable rights will be eovered by bilateral settlement or through a pool, has been left for further studv by the experts. Mr Ilarriman welcomed the Aew agreement as "real progress towards the Jiberation of trade."