POST-WAR ACCORD

Dominion, Volume 37, Issue 20, 19 October 1943, Page 5

POST-WAR ACCORD

London Expects Currency. Pact Soon NEW YORK, September 13. j Informed circles in London voiced today the expectation that some sort of agreement on the various aspects of postwar currency plans now under discussion in Washington between United States and British financial experts headed respectively by Mr. Harry D. White and Lord Keynes will finally be announced early in 1944, possibly not later than February, writes James MacDonald in the “New York Times.’’ It is understood that the Washington consultations will embrace not only postwar currencies, but also the creation of international institutions for regulating the flow of international investments and for stabilizing world prices of major commodities.

The need was foreseen for the quickest possible action looking toward the future set-up and two reasons were advanced for such expeditious settlement. One was the possibility that hostilities in Europe might terminate sooner than even the most cautious leaders dare expect in this war of constant surprises and sudden reversals. Another was that unless an agreement is reached within the next few months—before it becomes overshadowed by political considerations surrounding the next Presidential election —it would have to be postponed for no one knows how many months. British Uneasiness.

In view of the need for quick action some British members of Parliament interested in currency questions are uneasy over unconfirmed rumours that the British Treasury might be willing to concede too much. They fear that the. British Government might find itself rushed into an arrangement whereby the pound sterling would be chained to the dollar and to gold without providing adequate safeguards of vital British economic interests.

One subject of Lord Keynes’ negotiations will be a plan for the creation of a bank for the reconstruction of the united and associated nations.

It was reported in London today that another question to be taken up in Washington would be a plan for the creation of an international essential raw materials development corporation. The object of -such a corporation would be to set up buffer pools in essential commodities for the purpose of buying up surpluses and building up reserves through which deficiencies could be met.