Arab countries, including such recipients of heavy American aid as Egypt, used $198,000,000 of their foreign currency reserves in the past five years to purchase American gold, according to figures submitted to the Congressional record by Representative Neal Staebler of Michigan. Israel, in the same period, purchased $14,400,000 worth of American gold.
The heaviest buyer of American gold among the Arab countries was Saudi Arabia which purchased $71,400,000 worth, followed by Lebanon with $53,100,000. Even Egypt, which in recent years was recipient of various forms of emergency assistance from U.S. and international bodies, used $17,400,000 worth of foreign currency to buy gold reserves in the United States.
At the same time it was reported here today that the International Development Association, an affiliate of the World Bank, has extended an $8,600,000 loan to Syria for highway development. The loan, which is repayable in 50 years and is interest free, except for a three-fourths of one per cent service charge, will finance the improvement of two of Syria’s most important highways–The road from Damascus to Aleppo, the country’s principal north-south highway, and the road from Aleppo to Raqqa, the main route for the transport of agricultural produce from the eastern farm region.
Reporting the stories that define our era. When history unfolds in real-time, the Jewish world turns to JTA. Your support ensures we can document the complexities of war and the resilience of Jewish communities with integrity.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
