France's Monetary Policy M. Vincent-Auriol's declaration on monetary policy last
Saturday has not aroused great confidence. He plans to restore France's finances by recovering French capital exported abroad and by drawing hoarded currency into circulation through the issue of Government bonds of small denomination. By these means he intends to avoid both devaluation and exchange control, and he proposes to open a new " credit " with the Bank of France, which is to be brought under Government control. Unfortu- nately, these measures do not seem immediately calcu- lated either to restore confidence or stimulate economic activity ; and it is difficult to believe that they can stop the outflow of gold. So long as that continues France's monetary situation must remain critical, and for the moment certainly the Front Populaire government has more to fear from its financial difficulties than from even the Fascists. The dissolution of the Leagues is being carried out with exemplary speed and apparently without opposition. Colonel de la Roque, however, proposes to convert his Croix de Feu into a new Parti Social Francais, with presumably the same membership.
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