DRAMATIC RISE IN FRANC

Taranaki Daily News, 24 November 1926, Page 9

DRAMATIC RISE IN FRANC

ECONOMIC CRISIS FEARED TRADE DEALT HEAVY BLOW AMAZI NG FLUCT CATIONS By Telegraph—Press Assn. —Copyright. Paris, Nov. 22. France is faced with a new franc sensation. Strangely, it is not a dramatic fall, but a dramatic rise. The upward bolt to 128, against 147 last week, has left financiers and public opinion in u state of bewilderment. It is realised that a serious economic crisis is likely to arise from over-rapid deflation dealing a heavy blow to trade, making money tight, reducing exports, and increasing imports. The situation at present is as bad as in July, when the franc was 240; meanwhile the absurdly fiiigli prices, based on that rate, are making Paris the dearest, instead of th© cheapest, capital in Europe. Shopkeepers who thought they would make a fortune out of foreigners have been badly caught. Those who were recently clamouring for a tax levied on foreigners are grumbling that they will be ruined, because British tourists are not coming to Paris at Christmas. The shops are deserted and people are not purchasing, being afraid of what is going to happen. The scenes on the Bourse at the closing of business were most remarkable. Every telephone and cable to foreign centres was engaged. There were the wildest fluctuations. Men stood with pale faces watching ruin creep upon them.