835.5151/135: Telegram
The Chargé in Argentina (White) to the Acting Secretary of State
[Received 6:45 p.m.]
59. Your 44, June 26, 3 [4] p.m. Banks inform us that exchange permits have been granted with much greater facility during the last few days, the principal factors in this situation probably being rising price of cereals and that Government has covered for the present most of immediate external debt operations.
As to degree to which exchange provisions of Roca agreement are at present carried out, there appears to be considerable uncertainty, but I hear that many British are still far from satisfied with the amount of exchange available for them.
At informal meeting a few days ago Minister of Finance told me that over 90,000,000 paper pesos of exchange had been allotted to American interests and that this figure was altogether out of proportion to the United States purchases of Argentine products—a state of affairs which he considered could not last. He was presumably referring to exchange permits for the first 5 months of this year, about half of which represents service on Government dollar debts.
Exports to the United States for same period were 7,323,000 Argentine gold pesos out of 210,412,000 total or 3⅓ percent. If we take 499,000,000 as tentative total value of exchange permits granted first 5 months, American interests, deducting Government debts, would have received nearly 10 percent of this.