3 JUNE 1938, Page 2

The Government is to be congratulated on the negotiation of

the J) 6,000,000 credit granted to Turkey, the full terms of which were published last week. The Export Credits Guarantee Department is to guarantee Turkish purchases of Eto,000,000 worth of manufactured goods in this country, while a further agreement is to enable Turkey to make up arrears of payments under the clearing system. The agree- ments, one of which requires special ratification by Parlia- ment, as it involves the purchase of munitions of war, are to be welcomed on several counts. As an article on another page of this issue explains, they will strengthen and assist Turkey in carrying out her essentially pacific policy, and give an added stimulus to the growing friendship between her and this country ; it is tempting to speculate on the effects of this friendship on her relations with Germany and the Soviet Union. Of equal importance are the economic effects of the agreements. Apart from the direct stimulus given to British exports, they mark a revival of Great Britain's traditional policy of lending abroad in order to assist the development of hackward and potentially rich countries through the export of British manufactured goods.