SECRET
Hong Kong
£ millions
Sterling Assets
Banking and Money Market Assets (a)
British Government Stocks (excluding
Special Funds with Crown Agents)
Sterling Liabilities
Advances and Overdrafts
(a) Defined as deposits with banks,
local authorities and hire purchase finance companies, and Treasury bills.
1974
End-Sept.
95
346
441
26
REQDED IN
RECI
13 NOV 1974
ARK 5/10
51
1
102
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 1974
USE OF RESERVES ENTIRELY UP TO HONG KONG+
HK COMMISSIONER TELLS LONDON MEETING
*****
MR. S.T. KIDD, THE HONG KONG COMMISSIONER, TOLD AN AUDIENCE AT THE ROYAL OVERSEAS LEAGUE, LONDON, LAST (MONDAY) NIGHT, THAT IT WAS ENTIRELY HONG KONG'S OWN DECISION WHETHER OR NOT IT KEPT ITS STERLING BALANCES IN LONDON.
IN THIS MATTER,+ SAID MR. KIDD, +WE ARE UNDER NO CONSTRAINT FROM THE BRITISH GOVERNMENT.+
THE HONG KONG COMMISSIONER WAS THE MAIN SPEAKER AT A DISCUSSION ON +HONG KONG TODAY+ AT THE LEAGUE'S LONDON HEADQUARTERS. THE DIRECTOR GENERAL OF THE LEAGUE, MR. PHILIP CRAWSHAW, WAS IN THE CHAIR.
MR. KIDD DESCRIBED HONG KONG'S GROWTH AS A MAJOR COMMERCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL CENTRE, AND WENT ON TO DESCRIBE THE DEVELOPMENT OF SOCIAL SERVICES IN THE TERRITORY.
MR. KIDD SAID THAT HONG KONG WAS STILL EXPOSED TO A CONSTANT STREAM OF IMMIGRATION, BOTH FROM CHINA AND THE REST OF SOUTH-EAST ASIA - THE NET GAIN IN 1973, FOR EXAMPLE, WAS RECKONED AT OVER 60,000, OF WHICH THE BULK CAME FROM CHINA, LEGALLY OR ILLEGALLY:
EVEN THOUGH FACILITIES FOR FAMILY PLANNING WERE BEING RAPIDLY EXPANDED, AND THE BIRTH RATE HAD DECLINED BY A HALF BETWEEN 1963 AND 1973, IT COULD TRULY BE SAID THAT HONG KONG'S GREATEST PROBLEM REMAINED +A PROBLEM OF PEOPLE'.
+TO ILLUSTRATE THE CONSEQUENCES,+ SAID MR. KIDD, +1. NEED ONLY SAY THAT IN AN AVERAGE YEAR AND BY A PRODIGIOUS HOUSING PROGRAMME, WE REHOUSE OVER 100,000 PEOPLE IN GOVERNMENT-OWNED OR SUBSIDISED HOUSING, BUT AT THE PRESENT RATE OF IMMIGRATION, THE EFFECT ON THE GOVERNMENT'S EFFORTS TO ELIMINATE SUB-STANDARD HOUSING IS BEING CONTINUALLY ERODED BY EVENTS VERY LARGELY BEYOND OUR OWN CONTROL.
.יז
ARD
+PERHAPS, HOWEVER, YOU CAN APPRECIATE WHY WE ARE NOT ALWAYS AS RECEPTIVE AS OUR CRITICS THINK WE SHOULD DE WHEN FRESH ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS ARE DISCOVERED IN TIME FOR THEM TO BE RETURNED TO THEIR PLACE OF ORIGIN.+
TURNING TO FINANCIAL MATTERS, THE COMMISSIONER SAID THAT HONG KONG HAD HITHERTO BEEN ABLE TO MEET THE COST OF ITS CAPITAL AND RECURRENT EXPENDITURE OUT OF REVENUE. INDEED, THE PHYSICAL CAPABILITY TO SPEND MONEY, RATHER THAN BUDGETARY CONSTRAINTS, HAD BEEN THE LIMITING FACTOR UNTIL VERY RECENTLY.
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/THE AVAILABILITY
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 1974.
THE AVAILABILITY OF SURPLUS FUNDS OVER THE PAST DECADE OR MORE HAD RESULTED IN THE BUILDING UP OF FINANCIAL RESERVES, INCLUDING THE RESERVES HELD IN LONDON. APART FROM PROVIDING BACKING FOR ITS CURRENCY, THESE STERLING RESERVES HAD EARNED HONG KONG ADDITIONAL REVENUE. BUT IT WOULD DE WRONG TO ASSUME. THAT BECAUSE IT WAS AMONG THE LARGEST HOLDERS OF STERLING BALANCES HONG KONG HAD BECOME AS WEALTHY AS CERTAIN MIDDLE EASTERN STATES. IN FACT, ITS CURRENT RESERVES REPRESENTED NO MORE THAN 50 PER CENT OF ITS CURRENT ANNUAL EXPENDITURE.
MOREOVER, DURING THE NEXT THREE YEARS ALONE ITS PROJECTED CAPITAL EXPENDITURE WOULD REQUIRE IT TO FIND A FURTHER $2,000 MILLION, WHETHER BY WAY OF INCREASED TAXATION OR BY RAISING FOREIGN LOANS, QUITE APART FROM THE USE OF ITS RESERVES TO OFFSET THE DEFICIT ANTICIPATED ON ITS CURRENT BUDGET.
+1 SHOULD ADD+ SAID MR. KIDD +THAT IT IS ENTIRELY OUR OWN DECISION WHETHER OR NOT WE KEEP OUR STERLING DALANCES IN LONDON, AND IN THIS MATTER WE ARE UNDER NO CONSTRAINT FROM THE BRITISH GOVERNMENT.+
MR. KIDD CONCLUDED: +IT MAY WELL BE THAT OUR CAUTIOUS OPTIMISM ABOUT OUR CONTINUING PROSPERITY BASED UPON OUR INTERNATIONAL TRADING POSITION WILL BE CONFOUNDED. BUT IF THIS SHOULD BE THE CASE, IT WILL BE IN SPITE OF THE UNREMITTING EFFORTS OF THE PEOPLE OF HONG KONG WHOSE VERSATILITY, ENTHUSIASM,
ENTHUSIASM, AND CONFIDENCE IN THEIR OWN FUTURE HAS ALREADY CARRIED THEM THROUGH CRISES WHICH WOULD HAVE DAUNTED A LESS ENERGETIC COMMUNITY.+
}
NOTE TO EDITORS:
GOVERNOR TO PRESENT INSIGNIA TO 54 MEMBERS OF THE COMMUNITY
*****
FIFTY-FOUR HONG KONG RESIDENTS WHO WERE DECORATED BY THE QUEEN FOR SERVICES TO THE COMMUNITY WILL RECEIVE THEIR INSIGNIA FROM THE GOVERNOR, SIR MURRAY MACLEHOSE, AT A PRESENTATION CEREMONY AT GOVERNMENT HOUSE TOMORROW (WEDNESDAY).
THE INSIGNIA INCLUDE TWO C.B.E.'S, FIVE 0.B.E.'S, ONE I.S.O.,
TWO M.B.E.'S (M), SIX M.B.E.'S, AND ONE M.B.E. (H).
COPIES OF A LIST OF RECIPIENTS OF THE INSIGNIA WILL BE AVAILABLE FOR COLLECTION FROM THE PRESS ROOM, G.I.S. SIXTH FLOOR, BEACONSFIELD HOUSE, AT 11.30 A.M. TOMORROW.
ONLY PRESS PHOTOGRAPHERS WITH SPECIAL PASSES WILL BE ADMITTED TO GOVERNMENT HOUSE. THEY ARE REQUESTED TO ASSEMBLE AT THE GUARD ROOM OF GOVERNMENT HOUSE NOT LATER THAN 11 A.M. G.I.S. OFFICERS WILL BE ON HAND TO ASSIST THEM.
NEWSPAPERS NOT RECEIVING PASSES WILL BE ABLE TO OBTAIN PHOTOGRAPHS BY MAKING ARRANGEMENTS FOR THE SUPPLY OF PRINTS IN THE ORDINARY WAY WITH FRANCIS WU STUDIO, GLOUCESTER BUILDING, AT-224500.
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