July 1931

380 FEDERAL RESERVE BULLETIN JULY, 1931

CURRENCY REFORM IN The law of May 11, 1931, estab- The notes issued by the National Bank shall con- tinue to be legal tender. lished the legal parity of the Yugoslav at The denominations, form, and inscription of the 26.5 milligrams of fine gold (about 1.76 cents). notes shall be fixed by a special law on motion of the The dinar had been de facto stabilized at ap- Minister of Finance and in consultation with the proximately this level since the middle of 1925. National Bank. ART. 3. The National Bank shall be obligated to Preliminary to legal stabilization of the redeem its notes to bearer at sight, at its head office in dinar, negotiations for an international loan of Belgrade. Redemption may be made in gold bullion 1,025,000,000 French francs (about $40,000,000) at the rate laid down in article 1, or, at the option of were concluded by the signing of the loan con- the bank, in foreign exchange which is legally and in fact freely convertible into gold for export. In the tract in Paris on May 8, 1931. Of the total latter case the delivery of foreign exchange shall be amount of the loan, 675,000,000 francs were made at a price not to exceed legal parity plus the costs taken by a group of French banks, while the of shipping gold. remainder was floated in Switzerland, Holland, The National Bank shall be obligated to redeem its notes without limitation as to amount. The minimum Sweden, and Yugoslavia. The maturity of amount, however, which may be presented for redemp- the loan was fixed at 40 years and the rate of tion in gold is 250,000 . interest at 7 per cent, with a selling price of The export of gold and foreign exchange shall be free. 87 & ART. 4. The National Bank shall at all times, at its head office in Belgrade, exchange for bank notes any In anticipation of the legal stabilization of amount of gold that may be offered to it, at the rate the dinar, the board of the Bank for Inter- fixed in article 1 of this law. national Settlements allotted 4,000 of its shares ART. 5. The National Bank is obligated to maintain to the National Bank of the Kingdom of a reserve in gold or in such foreign exchanges as are legally and in practice freely redeemable in gold for Yugoslavia, for delivery as soon as the stabili- export; the amount of this reserve shall be at least 35 zation program has been completed. per cent of the aggregate amount of its demand liabil- The currency law, which becomes effective ities; and at least 25 per cent of the demand liabilities on June 28, 1931, is given herewith: of the bank shall be covered by gold in vault or ear- marked abroad and freely available for export. CURRENCY LAW OF THE ART. 6. Gold and silver coins minted in accordance with previous laws shall cease to be legal tender. ARTICLE 1. The monetary unit of the Kingdom of ART. 7. A special law shall, on motion of the Minister Yugoslavia shall be the dinar. The value of the dinar of Finance and in consultation with the National Bank, shall be equal to that of a weight of 26.5 milligrams of fix the issue of subsidiary coins of nickel, aluminum fine gold. alloy, and silver. The total amount of subsidiary coins ART. 2. The National Bank shall have the privilege in circulation shall not exceed 650,000,000 dinars. The of issuing bank notes throughout the Kingdom of methods and conditions of minting subsidiary coins Yugoslavia under the conditions established by the shall be established by the Minister of Finance. law. ART. 8. All laws and regulations which may be in During the full term of the duration of its privilege, conflict with this law are abolished. the administration of the currency in the Kingdom of ART. 9. Publication in the Official Gazette constitutes Yugoslavia shall be assigned to the National Bank as notification of this law. The law shall become effective a public service to be executed in the name of the on June 28, 1931. Government. The bank shall be accountable for the (Signed) ALEXANDER. proper discharge of such service under the conditions BELGRADE, May 11, 1931. fixed by the present law and by the law governing the National Bank of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. ANNUAL REPORT OF THE NATIONAL BANK OF THE KINGDOM OF YUGOSLAVIA The annual report of the National Bank of dition of world agriculture, however, did not the Kingdom of Yugoslavia for 1930 was sub- seriously impair economic conditions in this mitted to the general meeting of shareholders country. Not only did Yugoslavia avoid the full on March 18, 1931. Selections from the report brunt of the crisis, but—especially at the end of are given herewith.1 1929—it showed definite progress. Not until the The Kingdom of Yugoslavia, being preemi- latter half of 1930, when economic conditions nently an agricultural country, has in the past in other countries began to show a rapid and few years felt the weight of the world-wide de- serious decline, did economic activity in this pression in agriculture. The unfavorable con- country begin to weaken to any marked extent, 1 Taken with some textual revision from the official English version and even yet the situation in this country is not published by the bank. In addition to the passages included here, the report contains tables showing the operations of the bank in detail and depressed to the same extent as that in many sections dealing with industry, agriculture, foreign trade, crafts, the other countries. It is true that in 1930, as com- movement of prices, etc. For earlier reports see FEDERAL RESERVE BULLETIN for July, 1930, 1929; June, 1928; July, 1927; June, 1926; etc. pared with 1929, some recession occurred in

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