868.51/1654
Memorandum of Conversation, by the Under Secretary of State (Welles)
The Greek Minister68 called to see me this afternoon at his request.
The Minister said that in accordance with the request of the President to the King and to the Prime Minister that this matter be discussed directly with me, he would now give me preliminary figures covering the financial situation of the Greek Government. The Minister stated that the Greek Government at present had remaining on deposit some $8,000,000. The expenses of the Greek Government at present were $9,600,000 a year for the maintenance of the Greek military, air and naval forces operating in North Africa. In addition thereto, the Greek Government is obliged to spend at the rate of some $1,300,000 a year for the upkeep of refugees and for the transfer of civilian refugees, particularly children. He said that the income of the Greek Government from the charter of Greek merchant shipping was approximately $7,200,000 a year.
[Page 800]Consequently, at the present rate they were incurring a deficit of close to $4,000,000 a year, and with the constant shrinking in merchant shipping due to sinkings, this deficit would undoubtedly increase from month to month. Obviously the Greek Government could not find money with which to meet its continuing deficit for more than a relatively brief period.
He said that the King and the Prime Minister had had the impression that the upkeep of Greek refugees might be met by the American Red Cross or by charitable organizations in this country, but the Minister had made it clear to them that this was impossible. He further stated that they had also believed that Lend-Lease arrangements might be resorted to for the purpose of obtaining dollar credits with which to meet their military and naval expenditures. The Minister said that he had also made it clear to them that under the terms of the statutes in force this likewise was not possible.
In accordance with the President’s request, the Minister therefore asked that immediate consideration be given to requirements of the Greek Government with a view to ascertaining what assistance this Government might be able and willing to render. I stated that I would be very glad to ask that immediate thought be given to this problem and that as soon as the situation had been canvassed by the appropriate authorities of the Government I would be glad to speak again to the Minister.
- Cimon P. Diamantopoulos.↩