SECRET
RECORD OF A MEETING AT THE TREASURY
AT 11.30 AM ON FRIDAY 14 SEPTEMBER 1973
ва
2
Present:
Mrs M E Hedley-Miller
Mr D G Holland
Mr AC Stuart
308
Sir Murray MacLehose
KCMG MBE
(42)
alf
HKK) 1/144
STERLING AND HONG KONG
For
1. Sir Murray MacLehose described the Hong Kong position.
They needed a programme of phased diversification.
political and other reasons there was a very strong case for
wider rights. So long as losses to Hong Kong's reserves
resulted from an agreement with HMG, this obscured objective
consideration of the reasons for the loss. Politically, a
self-induced loss would be easier to sustain. From Hong Kong's
point of view there was not a good commercial case for retaining
so large a proportion of their reserves in sterling. The speed
at which diversification should happen was a separate issue
but it would be Hong Kong's objective from now on.
2. Sir Murray MacLehose said that the Treasury's recent
unilateral offer of a six-month guarantee was framed in a way
which made it difficult to say yes or no.
Discussions would
be necessary to clarify the implications.
He asked for an
assurance that there would be time for thorough discussions
between Treasury officials and the Hong Kong Financial Secretary,
Mr Haddon-Cave, during the Commonwealth Finance Ministers
Meeting in Dar-es-Salaam.
SECRET
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