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My Lords accordingly suggest that the Government
of Hong Kong should be invited to enter into an agreement
with His Majesty's Government for a year or two years in
the first instance, which (subject to discussion in Hong
Kong, and to any amendments which experience of local
conditions may suggest as desirable) might provide:
(i) that, as arranged in 1924, the Hong Kong Govern-
ment should give to the Treasury Chest the first
refusal of all dollar balances which they wish to
remit to England, giving such notice of amounts and
dates as will enable the Treasury Chest Officer to
arrange to raise the balance of his requirements
by tender on the open market as at present;
(ii) that the Treasury Chest Officer should accept all
such offers within limits to be agreed each year
(e.g. £75,000 in any month, and £500,000 in any
one calendar year), or beyond such limits by
mutual agreement;
(iii) that the rate of exchange to be adopted for each
transaction should in principle be midway between
the
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