REPORTS CONFIRMED

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26638, 8 December 1947, Page 5

REPORTS CONFIRMED

“PANIC BUYING” IN RUSSIA AMERICAN AMBASSADOR’S DESPATCH WASHINGTON, Dec. 5. The Acting Secretary of State, Mr Robert Lovett, announced to-day the receipt of a cablegram from the Ambassador, Mr Bedell Smith, Moscow, confirming earlier reports of “ panic buying ” in the Soviet capital and other Russian cities, and disclosing that foreign correspondents’ despatches on the subject were being held up by the Moscow censorship. Testifying before the Senate Appropriations Committee, Mr Lovett said the Moscow Embassy had no confirmation of reports that the Russian Government was about to revalue its currency, but declared it was on the basis of rumours of such devaluation that a buying spree was being carried out in Moscow. The Embassy reportea that many stores had closed, and those that did stay open had bare shelves, with customers making the greatest attempts to buy dry goods, rare books, jewellery, and' anything of durable value. Travellers arriving at Moscow reported that similar developments were occurring in other cities throughout the country. Mr Lovett said the State Department had also received reports that men in the Soviet armed forces were about to receive pay cuts, and this might be a contributing cause to the buying spree. He stressed, however, that the State Department was not attaching “too much importance” to the development, and warned against the United States being “lulled into a false sense of security.”