28 million already cashed.
8.8
10/2
"
Shortly to 'x cashed)
" to comme
This £1,000,000 «sill come from capital which means a loss of incoms (2%) of £20,000 p.a.
Mr. Foster Hall
7
You asked me if I could give you an estimate of the amount likely to be paid out of the Hongkong Exchange Fund on account of the redemption of Hongkong currency notes.
I am afraid that anything like a firm estimte is quite impossible. According to Chungking telegrams the total value of notes encashed in China was $46 million. These of course are not all liabilities of the Exchange Fund, since the banks (the Chartered and Mercantile more than the Hongkong Bank) do not necessarily claim on the Exchange Fund for reimbursement in respect of every note redeemed; but against this it is now our policy to buy all the Hong-
Back kong notes (which form the large majority) and hold them as assets of the Exchange Fund in view of the inclusion of "un-issued" notes in the first lot checked. Then there are other Hongkong notes encashed in India and elsewhere.
The banks were forced to sign and issue a large quantity by the Japanese invaders and an unkom quantity of unissued notes not destroyed before the occupation of the Colony were seized by the enmy and put into circulation. We do not yet know what we are going to do about these "unissued" notes: it is
· possible, but by no means certain, that we shall call upon the banks to bear the loss since they ought to have destroyed
/them