Value Of The Franc

Effect of New Exchange on Colonial Pacific Trade

rpHE franc of Metropolitan France has A been stabilised at 480 to the £ sterling, and 119 to the United States dollar (which means, in terms of gold, that the franc is now worth about one half-penny). This has been done to stimulate French exports, and induce a flow of Anglo-American funds into France.

Those who remember the events of 1920-30, following World War I, have no doubt about what will happen. France will suffer considerably for a few years, in an economic sense, but she will sell abroad everything she can export.

Meanwhile, to get the cheap living accorded by the cheap franc, hundreds of thousands of Anglo-Americans— especially those on small incomes—will go to France as soon as transport is avail able. Tourism will be worth countless millions to France in the future, as it was in the past.

But the franc has been given a dif ferent value in different parts of the French Colonial Empire just as the value of the £ varies in different parts of the British Empire. These values, in relation to the £ sterling, are as follow:

This further table also is of interest:— 100 Pacific francs equal 240 Metropolitan francs. 100 African francs equal 170 Metropolitan francs. 100 West Indies francs equal 170 Metro politan francs.

Actually, there has been no change in the relationship between the Pacific franc

and the Anglo-American currency. The Australian or New Zealand £ is still equal to about 160 Pacific francs, and about 180 Pacific francs go to the Fiji £.

The Pacific franc holds its value because both New Caledonia and French Oceania have accumulated substantial credit balances in dollars and pounds.

Prices in France will rise, of course, but not enough to wipe out the exchange ad vantage. The effect of all this upon trade in the French Pacific Colonies will be worth watching. The tendency prob ably will be the resumption of purchases m France by the French Colonies. But that cannot come for a considerable time —not until there is transportation, and France has enough goods for her own needs and to meet nearby demands. The strong trade relationships created between the French Colonies and the British Dominions and the United States since 1940, almost certainly will continue for some years.

As the United States dollar is now as important in the South Pacific Territories as the various £’s, this table also is of interest:— £1 sterling equals .. .. 4.00 US dollars £1 Aust. (or NZ) equals 3.19 US dollars £1 Fiji equals 3.50 US dollars One US dollar equals 119.1 Metro, francs One US dollar equals 49.6 Pacific francs Warrant-Officer J. S. H. Doran, of ANGAU, lost his life through drowning, at Bougainville, on May 23, 1945, and was buried at Torokina. He was for merly a resident of Bulolo, New Guinea.

Mr. H. A. E. Tanks, civil engineer, of the New Guinea Administration Service, who for four years was engaged on the construction of the Sydney graving dock, and was in July last appointed temporar ily to the Department of Works and Housing, Melbourne, as Area Planning Officer for Victoria and Tasmania, left Sydney by air on January 2 to resume duty in the Territories, with the Provi sional Administration,

Number to Franc £ sterling France 480 Pacific 200 Africa 265 West Indies 265