861.13/3–1750
The Chargé in the Soviet Union (Barbour) to the Secretary of State
There are enclosed in slightly condensed translation copies of an article by Professor K. Plotnikov entitled “What does the Shifting of the Exchange Kate of the Soviet Ruble to a Gold Basis Signify?” which appeared in Pravda March 5.1
In the article, claimed to have been written in response to a letter from a reader who wanted to know what the change in the exchange rate signified, Professor Plotnikov explained that in the past various foreign currencies have been taken as a basis for fixing the exchange rate of the ruble for purposes of foreign trade. The French franc and then the American dollar were selected since at the time they were adopted they represented the most stable currency “among the big capitalist states”. He pointed out that because “in the USA production is declining month in and month out, the army of unemployed is growing and a new economic crisis is mounting inexorably” the dollar since the war had become very unstable and its exchange rate in the international market has been sharply reduced. Soviet economic successes, concomitant with the deteriorating condition in capitalist countries, resulted in the Soviet ruble’s purchasing power becoming higher than its official rate of exchange. Consequently, the government determined to raise the rate, and at the same time to place the ruble on a more stable basis than the depreciating dollar, namely gold, in accordance with the gold content of the ruble.
First Secretary of Embassy
- Not printed.↩