1
28
Wednesday, October 31, 1973
"Despite all their good efforts, the voices of Hong Kong people
are seldom heard within the U.K. Government," he said, citing the guarantee
on Hong Kong's sterling reserves and the discrimination against Hong Kong
in Britain's own generalised preference scheme as just two examples.
Dr. Chung also felt that the current programme for inviting
Members of Parliament to visit Hong Kong should continue and be expanded.
Turning to inflation, Dr. Chung said he had not been able to come
to a conclusion whether some form of price control similar to those in the
United States and in Britain should be adopted or whether the present
policy of minimum control and interference should be maintained.
Like his Unofficial colleagues, however, he did favour the formation
of a committee of experts to look more deeply into anti-inflation measures.
"The important thing is to have sufficient expertise in the
committee to devise sone efficient and effective means for curbing the
present rapid rate of inflation," he emphasised.
He hoped that the government would give urgent consideration to
this in view of the alarming increase in the average general consumer prive
index which was 26.5 per cent up in September this year compared to the same
month last year.
Based on comparative figures, he said, the average annual rate of
inflation for the whole of this year would probably be about 20 per cent,
compared with about six per cent last year, four per cent in 1971 and seven
per cent in 1970.
/The high
Page 30Page 31