CONFIDENTIAL
2
The duties of the Deputy Economic Secretary were much less clearly
defined, and it was here that reorganisation and expansion were most
needed particularly in improving the information available to the
Financial Secretary, to enable him to undertake longer term planning,
which was at present almost totally lacking.
There was also the problem of the specialised organisations,
relating to currency and banking, which at present function independently
of each other and with which the Financial Secretary's contacts were at
present rather intermittent. These are the Exchange Fund, which comes
under the Deputy Financial Secretary, and the Exchange Controller and the
Commissioner of Banking, who come under the Deputy Economic Secretary
though the Financial Secretary himself is the Chairman of the Banking
Advisory Committee. Although he has no present intention of combining
these three Departments under a single head to form a sort of central
monetary authority, Haddon-Cave would like to bring them closer together, and into more regular contact with the Financial Secretary, particularly
in the provision of statistical information and forecasts.
On the staffing side, Haddon-Cave felt that the most pressing
need was for a qualified economist who could act as an Assistant to the
Financial Secretary, with the main tasks of developing and co-ordinating
information on economic and financial matters, since the present
statistical effort is concentrated almost exclusively on questions of
trade and population;
and who would also advise the Financial Secretary
on questions of long-term economic forecasting and planning.
Haddon-Cave
recognises that no one of the required calibre can be produced from within Government or academic circles in Hong Kong, and that he would have
to rely on an expatriate. He hoped that it would be possible to recruit
someone with the right qualifications who would be prepared to make a
career in Hong Kong. The main difficulty, which Haddon-Cave also
recognised, was that the salary that the Hong Kong Government could offer
might not be sufficient to attract anyone of sufficiently high calibre.
1970.
6th November 1970.