CO129-555-14 Sterling Conversion rate for December salaries 21-11-1935 - 19-12-1935 — Page 3

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Jal to For N° 236 Conf

7. 12 35

The attached telegram has been sent

x

× N°3

in reply to No. 2 after discussion with

Mr. Jeffries and after a reference by telephone

to the Treasury.

I also ascertained from

Mr. Dale that he could see no legal obstacle

ordninína

to the Government sigutẳng, in respect of

-

December payments to their sterling salaried

staff, a special emergency rate of exchange

for the purpose of dollar payments locally.

On the basis of the customary

procedure for calculating the dollars due by

way of salary to sterling-paid officers, the

system set out in General Order No.91 would

have stipulated an exchange rate of about 1/5,

if we may assume that from now until the 15th

December the daily rate would be maintained

at not less than 1/41 $1. The O.A.G. 's

proposal to convert December salaries at the

fictitious rate of 1/8 would consequently have

meant a very considerable relief to Government

expenditure in December, and a corresponding

special levy on that section of the Government

staff whose salaries are expressed in sterling.

The Treasury, whose system of

assessing the local payments due to sterling-

paid officers of the Imperial Government in

Hong Kong, e.g., Army and Navy, is rather

different from the Colonial Government's

system, have fixed a special rate for December

of 1/5 for the first half of December, with

the rate for the second half shortly to be

announced by the local Treasury Chest Officer.

The