CO129-541-2 Estimates 1931 14-10-1932 - 19-7-1934 — Page 2

SPARES TO LIBRARY,

0. a. G.

-434 -

23.9.32

Submits draft batimates 1933.

Delayed owing to pressure of other work

a at the beginning ofthis north.

in October &

2

The

The Hong Kong estimates are not usually

subjected to any considerable amendment during their passage through the Legislative Council.

draft estimates now submitted reveal a satisfactory

position. Comparative figures of revenue and ex-

penditure for the last few years are tabulated overleef.

Fluctuations in the exchange render them

misleading in some respects, but they show that, over

the period covered, the Colony has avoided any large

deficit, and has materially increased its surplus of

assets over liabilities. The 1932 estimates were

based on the $ = ls/-, and the rise in the Hong Kong

exchange which took place after the preparation of

the estimates (due in large measure to the departure

of sterling from the gold standard) enabled the

Government during the course of the year to embark upon Public Works expenditure amounting to $746,950

which for reasons of economy had had to be excluded

from the original estimates (see (18) on 82850/31).

The dependence of the revenue of the Colony upon the

exchange value of the dollar has now to some small

extent been mitigated by the fixing of the liquor and

tobacco duties in sterling, so that a fall in the

exchange, while increasing the sterling commitments,

including salaries paid in sterling, increases at the

same time, though to a less extent, the dollar receipts

from these duties; and vice versa. Since the liquor

and tobacco duties were placed on a sterling basis,

the exchange has in fact risen. In 1932, on the

basis of = ls/-, the liquor and tobacco duties

were estimated to yield $6,140,000. The 1933 esti-

mates