SHIFT TO THE LEFT IN BURMA
The Burmese governnent nationalized all private and commercial banks in the country February 23. A few minutes after the decree was announced over the radio, armed troops took over the fourteen foreign and twelve Burmese-owned institutions. Accounts oz the private banks were checked before staffs were permitted to _ eave.
Business circles were reported to be suffering “panic” following the sudden seizure.
The government said the move was required to prevent privste enterprisers from wrecking the economy. They had begun to withdraw funds from the banks following an announcement by the government the previous week that it was taking over all export and import businesses, the entire rice trade and some private industries.
The rice trade, Burma's single most important industry, will. be completely nationalized by next year, the government announced.
This shift to the left follows the resignation early in February of Brigadier Aung Gyi. A reformist Socialist, he had pressed for continued reliance on foreign investments and private enterprise in developing the Burmese economy.
The weight in the ruling Revolutionary Council now appears to have shifted toward the more radical wing although the equivocal General Ne Win remains the centrai figure in the government.
NIGERIAN DOCK STRIKE
LONDON, Feb. 23 -- The