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33.
It has not been possible hitherto to obtain any clear picture of the Colony's future financial position as it has been overshadowed by the uncertainties in regard to the incidence of various types of war expenditure. As a result of the generous terms of settlement recently offered by His Majesty's Government, it should now be possible, within a short space of time, to determine exactly the liabilities which the Colony will still have to meet, but there are certain outstanding points on which finality must first be reached. Once the extent of the Colony's final liability in respect of war expenditure is definitely known, it will be possible to consider future development plans, of which one of the most pressing is the provision of a more adequate water supply for the greatly increased population. Consideration of any long term scheme of this nature, however, is complicated by the fact that atan early stage it would presumably become a municipal responsibility.
34. The financial position of the Colony will not be secure until an adequate reserve fund is built up. Unfortunately, until Hong Kong is completely rehabilitated, the demands on expenditure will be such that there is little hope of being able to budget for a series of surpluses of sufficient size to achieve this end. But, in the meantime, I have every hope that the Colony will continue to be able to meet, unaided, all necessary recurrent expenditure, (2) including the completion of the work of rehabilitation, and (3)also to provide for a sufficient margin from which a
reasonable number of new capital works can be financed.
? & also inden hang (4) wan expenditure
Libilite (su pare. 33) Found Wat moet th
5
write
Jermiss
I have the honour to be, Sir,
Your most obedient, humble servant,
belfe
Mhauttam
GOVERNOR.
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