ECA Telegram Files, FRC Acc. No. 53A278, Paris Toeca: Telegram
The Chief of the ECA Mission in France (Bingham) to the Administrator for Economic Cooperation (Hoffman)
Toeca 1485. Huse from Kirkpatrick. Text of release for afternoon papers, December 20, 1949:
Information Division.
ECA Special Mission to France.
For Release:
37 billion counterpart fund francs released by ECA to finance French investment program for November and December. Grand total of French counterpart funds released since start of Marshall Plan now 403 billion francs.
The ECA Special Mission to France announced that the Administrator of the Economic Cooperation Administration had agreed to the proposal put forward by the French Government for the release of 37 million francs in counterpart funds to finance France’s postwar investment program for the months of November and December.
At the same time, ECA approved the proposal of the French Government that the advance release last August of 30 billion francs in counterpart funds to be applied to the financing of the investment program during the last three months of 1949.
The present release of 37 billion francs will finance projects of the same nature as those financed by eight previous releases for the French [Page 689] investment program during 1949. It will be the last counterpart release for 1949. With 20 billion francs allocated for debt retirement in July, it brings the total of counterpart funds released during 1949 to 263 billion francs.
The grand total for French counterpart releases since the start of the Marshall Plan, including 25 billion francs for debt retirement in 1948, is now 403 billion francs.1
The estimated breakdown of the utilization of counterpart funds for the French investment program for the year 1949 is as follows:
| Billions of francs | |||
| Electricité de France | 83. | 400 | |
| Charbonnages de France | 45. | 891 | |
| War damage reconstruction | 33. | 345 | |
| SNCF (state railroads) | 20. | 400 | |
| Overseas territories | 17. | 500 | |
| Agriculture | 13. | 951 | |
| Private industry | 10. | 533 | |
| Merchant Marine | 10. | 000 | |
| Gas | 4. | 000 | |
| Saar | 1. | 980 | |
| Total | 243 | billion francs | |
Bingham
- In telegram Toeca 1501, December 23, Bingham reported that L’Epoque, a Paris newspaper, commented on the announcement as follows: “Marshall aid exceeded 280 billion francs in 1949. What should we have done without it, and what do we think of doing when it comes to an end? … Some politicians are unconscious, they seem to forget that only American aid spares them for a very short time from choosing between complete failure of their policy and a complete reform of the present system.” (ECA Telegram Files, FRC Acc. No. 53A278, Paris Toeca)↩