BRITISH EXPORT CREDITS

Dominion, Volume 14, Issue 96, 17 January 1921, Page 6

BRITISH EXPORT CREDITS

' THE SCHEME EXTENDED

Au idea of the extent to which the export credits scheme has been and is likely to be developed in furtherance of British foreign trade, is given ( in a letter recently circulated by the British Department of Overseas Trade, to Chambers of Commerde and othc’r local bodies interested.. Up to the present (says the letter) tho scheme set up under the Overseas Trade (Credits and Insurance) Act has not been taken advantage of to a very great extent, partly owing to the fact that manufacturers and merchants 13. tnis country have enjoyed a iieriod of unprecedented prosperity, and have had no time to consider extensions in new directions. .“There are now signs of reaction and consequent slackness of trade, and it is •therefore likely that manufacturers and others will be seeking new outlets for their ■ trade. Mr. Kellaway, therefore, considers ’that it is desirable to call attention to the advantages offer-

ed by tno JUeparrmenL ami me ance which it can afford in the development of British trade ’’ By the Act Parliament provided 'that credits might be accorded up to an aggregate amount not exceeding 26 million pounds in respect of exports of British manufactured goods to I'inland, Latvia, ESthonia, Lithuania, Poland, Czechoslovakia, the Serb-Croat-Slovene State, Rumania, Georgia, and Armenia. Bulgaria has recently been added to tho schedule, and other countries may possibly be included as occasion arises. Under tho scheme ns originally framed, advances were made by the Department only up to 80 per cent, of the cost of the goods, including freight, and insurance, and commission paid to the Exports Credit Department, such advances being without recourse against the exporter. Tho Department is now authorised to advance in approved cases up io 100 per cent., retaining recourse against tho exporter in respect of 20 per cent Credits may be granted up to a maximum period of three years.