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As a result of all these economies the gap between Revenue and Expenditure has been considerably reduced but with the dollar rate taken at 1/8d, which seems a prudent figure, there will still be a deficit, after allowing for the surplus balances as mentioned, of about $830,000. The exact figures are Revenue $26,671,845 plus Surplus Balances (in excess of ten million dollars) $2,095,789 = total $28,767,634; Expenditure $29,598,148.
Such a position might, on a consideration merely of
the Budget figures, reasonably give some cause for disquietude. But before we need resign ourselves to the prospect of an unbalanced Budget I would submit the following points. In the first place there is the exchange rate of the dollar, a perennially uncertain factor in the framing of successive Estimates. The total amount of expenditure which depends directly on the dollar exchange is, in the Estimates now before you, £750,322, representing sterling salaries, passages, purchases from Crown Agents, pensions, etc. I give the figure in sterling for the purpose of clarity.
At the rate of 1/8d to the dollar, the figure adopted for the Estimates now before us, this represents a total of $9,003,864. If the dollar remains at its present level of about 2/- there will be sufficient savings on this alone to turn the budgetted deficit into a substantial surplus. Actually, as can be easily calculated, a balanced Budget may be anticipated if the dollar rate averages about 1/102d during 1936.
Secondly the Government has recently received the Secretary of State's authority to transfer to the general revenue in case of need a sum of $500,000 from the funds of the 1925 Trade Loan, This, I may say, will still leave sufficient assets in that