10
*
dates quoted in paragraph 4 above were
guaranteed special rates of exchange.
6. Hong Kong has no fixed "authorised"
rate.
But since 1935 the exchange value of
the Hong Kong dollar has been controlled by
the operations of at Exchange Fund
set up by the Currency Ordinance, 1935.
According to the Hong Kong Annual Report for
1946 the value of the dollar has been
maintained since 1935. both before and
after the Japanese occupation, "at
approxi ately one shilling and threepence".
It would seem therefore that, so far as
new recruits are concerned, all that should
be said is that pensions (and leave salary)
will be paid in sterling converted at the
current rate of exchange, adding tist since
1935 this rate has been subject to Government
control and has, both before and after the
Japanese occupation, been maintained at
approximately one shilling and threepence.
7. The question remains of officers now
in service on sterling salaries who opt for
the new terms. These officers are at present
entitled to sterling pensions. In opting to
take Salaries Commission terms they will be
worse off than their colleagues on dollar
salaries who similarly opt, to the extent that,
if their pensions are dependent on the current
rate of exchange between dollars and sterling,
they have to take a risk of reduction of
pension
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