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55. In drawing comparisons between the expenditure and revenue of different years it should not be forgotten that the Hong Kong dollar is based on silver and its value rises and falls with the price of that metal. Most of the European officers draw sterling salaries and the bulk of the drugs, dressings and instruments are obtained from England and paid for in sterling. With the exchange at a shilling, as it was during a great part of 1931, the number of dollars expended on sterling priced material, was double what it would have been had the exchange been 2 shillings to the dollar.
Ratio of Expenditure on Medical and Sanitary Services to Total Revenue from all Sources.
56. The total revenue from all sources was estimated at $27,488,759.00.
57. Because of the overlapping which occurs when a work serves both a utilitarian and a sanitary service it is impossible to assess exactly the amounts which have been spent for purely medical and sanitary purposes. Including all water works and drainage works as sanitary works the following (which include the salaries of the P.W.D. staff concerned) shows the commitments as laid down in the Estimates for 1931.
Expenditure by $ Medical Department 1,446,585.00 Sanitary Department 954,276.00 Public Works Department 1,540,458.00 Police Department 2,300.00 Subsides to Charities 142,295.00 Total $4,085,914.0058. Ratio of expenditure on Medical and Sanitary Services to total revenue
4,085,914 / 27,488,759 = 14.86 per cent.
59. If the expenditure on Water Works be not taken into account the ratio is 12.83 per cent.