Oral Answers to Questions — National Finance – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 18 February 1954.
Mr Marcus Lipton
, Lambeth Brixton
12:00,
18 February 1954
asked the Chancellor of the exchequer for what purposes, other than the purchase of Canadian barley, unlimited amounts of dollar currency are available on application by private individuals.
Mr Reginald Maudling
, Barnet
Dollars are freely available for payments for certain services and for goods which are on world open general licence or for which the Board of Trade have issued an open individual licence covering imports from the dollar area.
Mr Marcus Lipton
, Lambeth Brixton
I regret the vague nature of that reply. Is the Economic Secretary of opinion that the balance of payments position has moved so much in our favour as to justify unlimited dollar expenditure on commodities of which the Ministry of Food hold vast stocks, which can only be sold at a loss of millions of pounds to the taxpayer?
Mr Reginald Maudling
, Barnet
I do not know what was vague about my reply; the hon. and gallant Member asked for certain information, which I have given him. Particulars of the articles on world open general licence are contained in the first schedule of the current open general import licence and range from pig iron to natural untrimmed silkworm gut.
The chancellor of the exchequer is the government's chief financial minister and as such is responsible for raising government revenue through taxation or borrowing and for controlling overall government spending.
The chancellor's plans for the economy are delivered to the House of Commons every year in the Budget speech.
The chancellor is the most senior figure at the Treasury, even though the prime minister holds an additional title of 'First Lord of the Treasury'. He normally resides at Number 11 Downing Street.
