Anglo-American loan

Common card · No. 271682

The Anglo-American loan, officially the Anglo-American Loan Agreement, was made to the United Kingdom by the United States on 15 July 1946. The loan helped keep the British economy afloat after the Second World War. The British economist John Maynard Keynes and American diplomat William L. Clayton negotiated the deal. Problems arose on the American side, with many members of Congress reluctant to approve the agreement and with sharp differences emerging between the Treasury and State Departments. The loan US$3.75 billion (£2.2 billion) (equivalent to $61.91 billion in 2025) at a low interest rate of 2 per cent; Canada loaned US$1.19 billion (£607 million) (equivalent to $19.65 billion in 2025). In 1947, the British economy was shaken by a provision requiring the convertibility into U.S. dollars of wartime sterling balances that Britain had borrowed from India and other countries. By 1948, the Marshall Plan provided financial assistance that was not expected to be repaid. Repayment of...

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