60-day freeze on prices imposed in U.S.

Washington, June 14: President Nixon last night ordered a 60-day freeze on all prices, including those of food, in a bid to arrest what has become the nation’s worst bout of peacetime inflation in 25 years. Admitting that he had to resort to this shock treatment because prices were rising at unacceptable rates, Mr. Nixon also conceded that his phase three programme of voluntary controls had failed. Addressing the nation on what he called the number one problem before the country, Mr. Nixon said there would be no concurrent freeze on wages, interest, dividends and rents — these exemptions are not likely to please his Democrat opponents some of whom have been calling for a rollback instead of a freeze. Also not affected by the present freeze are the prices of raw agricultural products paid to producers. But the prices of these items, such as meat and butter, will be frozen at the supermarket counter. Mr. Nixon also asked Congress for flexible authority to control exports of agricultural products — these would apply to such commodities as wheat, rice, corn and soybeans. These controls were needed, it was explained, because without them the U.S. would find itself “with low prices for food, but nothing to buy.” It was not immediately clear how these controls would affect countries such as India which may have to import food from the U.S. to tide over their own shortages. What the price freeze now imposed does is give Mr. Nixon enough breathing time needed to devise more permanent measures.