FINANCE PLANS

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20120, 14 December 1939, Page 7

FINANCE PLANS

ALLIES IN WAR BRITAIN AND FRANCE SHARING THE BURDEN PROTECTING EXCHANGE CLOSE CONTACT (Elec. Tel, Copyright—United Press Assn.) (Reed. Dec. 13, 1.45 p.m.) LONDON, Dec. 12. In announcing in the House of Commons that an agreement had been reached between the British and French Treasuries whereby alterations in the existing exchange rate between the pound and the franc would be avoided during the war the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Sir John Simon, said that neither Government would raise a foreign loan or credits without agreement with the other and neither would impose fresh restrictions on imports from the other during the war. In accordance with the agreement, francs required by Britain, including those for the British Expeditionary Force, will be provided against payment in sterling and sterling required by France, including that required for the purchases of raw materials in the British Empire, will be provided against francs. Sharing Expenses The que’slion of sharing equitably the expenses necessitated by the conduct of the war which the two Governments have to defray in gold and dollars will be kept under review. The United Kingdom and the French Treasuries will have frequent meetings to review the position- of the Allied Governments as regards their resources in gold and foreign exchange. The two Governments will maintain contact on their policy . regarding prices. ' In connection with the decision that the two Governments will share certain items of expenditure in the common cause, it is stated that ' their contributions will be fixed on a basis which will take due account of the national wealth of each. In general the French contribution will be 40 per cent and that of the United Kingdom 60 per cent of the total. All these arrangements will remain in force till six months after the signature of the treaty of peace. A message from Paris states that the French Minister 'of Finance, M. Reynaud, said: “The Anglo-French agreement is vast and unprecedented. It extends to the whole of the British Empire. It is not characterised by the distrust or more or less disguised antagonism or differences of opinion which have characterised alliances in the past.”