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not seem worth the risk of the embarrassment we
should suffer if it ever became known to other
signatories that we had done so.
(a) Any indication to the Governor that there may be n
be no further Sterling Agreements would
generate a formidable conflict of interest.
It is doubtful whether it would be fair to
give him such information in confidence.
(e) The message(s) conveying our proposals
(whatever they are) to the Sterling Agreement
holders will require most careful preparation,
not least for Hong Kong, whose potential
difficulties are greater than many. It would
not be feasible to put this work in hand for
Hong Kong in advance of the general policy
decision, 2 Any decision to give any sort of
advance warning of our thinking to the
Governor, even in confidence, would of course
require the agreement of the Treasury (and
Bank).
2.1 We have not consulted them about Mr Royle's
suggestion, but FRD are sure that they would
oppose the idea most vigorously for the reasons set
out above.
I
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