868.51/1657
Memorandum of Conversation, by the Chief of the Division of Near Eastern Affairs (Alling)
The Greek Minister called today at my request.
Referring to the Minister’s conversation with Mr. Welles on July 23, 1942, I told him that an intelligent understanding of his Government’s financial problem and consideration by the Department and the other concerned authorities of the ways in which this Government might be of assistance would be greatly facilitated if he could secure and transmit to us fully detailed information concerning the finances of the exiled Government since its departure from Greece.
[Page 802]In the ensuing conversation I mentioned, in particular, information as to:
- 1.
- The amount and status of Greek reserves, including those of the Bank of Greece;
- 2.
- The sources and amounts of the revenues available to his Government, past, present and prospective;
- 3.
- The amounts and purposes of the Greek Government’s expenditures, past, present and prospective;
- 4.
- The extent of assistance being received by the Greek Government, directly or indirectly, from the British Government and other sources.
I added that I thought it would assist the Department in its discussion of the matter with other branches of this Government if we were in a position to state what measures the Greek Government has taken and is taking to cut its expenditures to an irreducible minimum.