But Devaluation Improves Outlook For Exports

Chronicle (Levin), 23 September 1949, Page 5

But Devaluation Improves Outlook For Exports

( N.Z.P.A.

— Reuter

'. Copyright)

Receivea Fnaay, iu.b a.m. LODDON, Sept. 22. The president of the Federation of British Industries, Sir Robert Sinclair, speaking at a luncheon of the American Chamber of Commerce, said hat the outlook for some British products on the American market had certain'y been improved ' by devaluation, whlch had undoubtedly helped to surmount the price and tariff hurdle. However, it was not the complete answer. Successful export to the dollar countries depended upon the ability to sbpply goods in the quanthy required at a competitive price, suitably packaged and— most important — intelligently marketed. Sir Robert added: "The devaluation rate of 2.80 is in all conscience a staggering recognidon

of unpalatable facts. I am one of those who had vainly hoped that steps could and would have been taken by way of disinflation t6 prevent so drastic an adjusiment. It was obvious that we were living beyond our means and that Government expenditure had 'soared to a level which called for an involerable burden of taxation We tried to do too much in too short a time. Let us hope that the shock will be salutary." On Brink of Chasm. Mr. John Freeman, Joint Parliamemary Secretary to the Ministry of Supply, warned industrialists today that Britain was "on the brink of a terrifying chasm." One false step would see the end of aT the country's bopes. The North American market was not assured, he said, and if Britain lost it her loss would be c-norm-ous. Reuter's Geneva correspondent reports that an ageni for British cars said that saies in Switzerland had increased by 600 per cent since devaluation.