U.K.: PRIME MINISTER CALLAGHAN SAYS COUNTRIES WITH LARGE RESERVES HAVE SOME RESPONSIBILITY FOR SLIDE IN VALUE OF THE POUND.
Record ID:
1061578
U.K.: PRIME MINISTER CALLAGHAN SAYS COUNTRIES WITH LARGE RESERVES HAVE SOME RESPONSIBILITY FOR SLIDE IN VALUE OF THE POUND.
- Title: U.K.: PRIME MINISTER CALLAGHAN SAYS COUNTRIES WITH LARGE RESERVES HAVE SOME RESPONSIBILITY FOR SLIDE IN VALUE OF THE POUND.
- Date: 25th October 1976
- Summary: 1. CU British Prime Minister James Callaghan speaking 1.18 CALLAGHAN: "I would very much like to see us get into a situation where these liabilities of ours, which we have as a reserve currency, were taken over in some form or other. Whether that can be attained of course isn't only for me. But, I do say this, I think Germany and the United States and perhaps Japan have got some responsibility here. They've got vast reserves. The German reserves are something between 35 and 40 billion dollars. If we had that, we wouldn't be worried about a run today. It would be trivial and I think that if, for example, the International Monetary Fund were to try to force us into policies which would be so harmful to the economy, that we would go into a downward spiral. Then we would have to say to some of these other countries, look, the International Monetary Fund and you yourselves must accept the political consequences of what you're doing. I'm not threatening anybody. What I'm saying is that when one country had been a traditional holder of sterling for so many years and has got these balances and has held them over a period of years and others have got these vast reserves, then it's........time we come more together than we have been and try to get it on to a more rational basis." The International Monetary Fund, the U.S. Treasury Secretary, Mr. William Simon and British authorities denied the Sunday Times report, which said the U.S. and the IMF had agreed to allow sterling to depreciate to 1.50 U.S. dollars. Sterling's weakness on foreign exchange markets was compounded by heavy demand for West German marks. Initials BB/0220 TELERECORDING Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
- Embargoed: 8th November 1976 12:00
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- Location: LONDON, U.K.
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- Country: United Kingdom
- Reuters ID: LVAEZKZ09Y35QSJAHUM491W0CS0G
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