Present:

Mr. McCauley - Chairman

The Minister for External Affairs took part in the Meeting for a short period.

The Meeting was called to consider the report which had been received that morning from the Legation at Washington enclosing a request from the State Department for a statement of our imports, etc. for the periods April/ June and July, 1948 in the event of the American Economic Co-operation Act of 1948 (i.e. the E.R.P. Act) becoming law early in April. We were to assume that we would be allocated the sum of $10,000,000 as E.R.P. aid in respect of the period April/June of the current year. It was emphasised by the State Department that the figure of $10,000,000 was purely academic and in no way represented either a definite commitment or even a real indication of the amount we were, in fact, likely to receive. The American request involved the completion of detailed Questionnaires covering our import programme for the periods concerned and the modifications in that programme that would be necessary on the basis of a $10,000,000 contribution under E.R.P.

It was decided, as a matter of policy, that the attitude to be taken in reply to the American request would be based on the assumption that once E.R.P. aid had begun we would cease to draw dollars from the sterling area pool. This line had already been agreed upon the British but there is a definite understanding with them that, if necessary, the sterling area fund will as heretofore be at our disposal for dollars.

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