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assistance.
In this knowledge Lord Shepherd
is reluctant to press the issue with other
departments at Ministerial level, at least for
the present. The arguments for deferring a
decision are:
(a) Although our economic position has
improved of late, no relaxation of current
(b)
restrictions on overseas expenditure is
possible. It is not to be expected
therefore that we will be able to obtain
agreement to the provision of additional
funds.
:
If a decision were to be reached to
support the project from funds already
provided, the Aid programme must be the
source. It is feared that the outcome
could only be the allocation of funds to
Hong Kong at the expense of other
territories whose needs are much greater.
These arguments are likely to hold good for some
time to come. Ideally it would be wise to post-
pone bringing this issue to a head at Ministerial
level until the recovery in our balance of payments
is established on a more permanent basis, offering
some hope that additional funds might be approved
for this project, and until the-planned increments
to Aid funds provide greater flexibility in the
Aid programme,
7. We cannot, however, indefinitely postpone an
answer to Hong Kong's request. The Secretary of
་ ་
State's visit will undoubtedly raise the
/expectation
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