CODE 18-77
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Reference
other claims by the Allied Powers and their nationals were waived (see para. 14).
Detail
5.
According to the Imperial War Museum (I am expecting a letter from them about the source of this information), in Burma and Malaya there was a decision by the Allies not to recognise the Japanese currency because of "spoliation" (i.e. issue of unbacked notes in payment for requirements of Japanese authorities rather than normal replacement of old notes or expansion of circulation for legitimate purposes). The amount of money in circulation was unknown and by accepting it the Allies would have induced inflation in these economies. In Burma, which had R335 million in circulation at the time of British rule, the Japanese were circulating R2,310 million and this rose by another R3,000 million towards the end of the war. R85 million held in the Central Bank was also stolen before the Allies regained control. In Malaya the Japanese had $4,000 million in circulation while the British had only had $220 million. These factors make it highly unlikely that this currency was ever redeemed and some holdings in Malaya may well have been burnt (see para. 12).
6.
There was considerable discussion of Japanese occupation currency in 1946, around the time that a new yen was brought into circulation in Japan and the old yen withdrawn. The Foreign Office sent a number of questions to Malaya and Hong Kong asking for information on Japanese currency. One of the questions asked
was:
"What was quantity of Japanese currency issued, and to what extent did it represent pure spoliation of population by
invader".
A reply from Borneo stated that:
"Quantity issued unknown but during latter period occupation represented perhaps
80 per cent spoliation......Problems
precisely similar in kind to Malaya and uniform
essential."
solutions
This "spoliation" was one reason why Japanese currency was not recognised by the Allies when they re-occuppied territories (see para.
5 above). I have so far not traced the Hong Kong reply.
7. British territories and authorities in Southeast Asia held a considerable amount of Japanese Imperial Yen. Figures compiled in October 1946 showed the following holdings:
Alfsea (Allied Forces South East Asia?) 1,675,605 BMABB (British Military Administration,
Malay Union
Singapore
British Borneo?)
by Administration
privately
cases of coins
cases of notes uncounted
privately
Total (not including Singapore cases)
167,960
49,377.07 57,091.6
53
41 135,469.15
2,085,502.82
In April 1946 Hong Kong had informed the Foreign Office that
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