CO129-597-3 Estimates 1950 22-2-1949 - 3-11-1950 — Page 241

of 528.

re Hongkong"

/17/52/48.

UNITED

KINGDOM TRADE COMMISSIONER

COPY FOR

Colomas Offici 1. BR 747 8/49

OTHER INSSİL

239

306 Queen's Building

HONG KONG

31st March, 1949.

Overseas Trade "B" No. 139.

ropied to:-

Export Credits Guarantee Dept. No.10.

Embassy, Shanghai No. 27.

The Under-Secretary,

Commercial Relations & Exports Department, Board of Trude,

Millbank, London, S.W.1.

RECEIVED

16 APR 1949 COLONIAL OFFICE

sir,

1949/1950 Budget Speech.

RC

2174)

TH

ICE

Further to my despatch C.T."E" No. 115 of the 21st March, which covers certain observations made by His Excellency the Governor on 15th March, I now have pleasure in enclosing herewith three full press copies of the recent Budget Speech delivered by the Financial Secretary.

2.

3.

The salient points therein appear to be as follows.

A resume of the closing fiscal year showed that the revised estimate of revenue is $184,000,000, and of expenditure $160,000,000; leaving an anticipated $24,000,000 surplus. The revised revenue figure is $32,500,000 above the approved estimate which, at the time, was hypothecuted by the falling off of trad● which has not materialised. Indeed, a record trading year for the Colony has been reflected in revenue collections which are expected to exceed estimates, thus off setting the sharp fall in tobacco duty receipts (those receipta, estimated at $25,000,000, allowed for a $5,000,000 drop consequent on certain duty paid stocks being exported to Far Eastern areas where vurious Government customs authorities were unable to exercise their full functions), together with other local factors causing collections to just top $17,000,000.

4.

Receipts from rates and licences and postal revenue we re highly sutisfactory; the receipts from stamp duty being impressive. The tax on the increment on the value of property to the end of February totalled 416,639,000; the collections of the first half of the year predominated, since from the end of September, due to a change in the tax basis and fewer properties being sold, receipts had markedly declined.

b.

Kowloon-Cunton Railway earnings are expected to exceed expectations by $1,500,000, this despite the decline in goods traffic due to reduced imports into South China.

6.

Earnings and Profits Tax receipts

the estimated $40,000,000.

7.

reach

The revised expenditure figure is thas slightly less than *9,750,000 over the estimate, the excess being occasioned largely by payment to Government personnel who remained and were not intermed in the Colony, as ap roved towards the end of the fiscal year 1947/ 1948. Since it had not proved possible to totally discharge such payments by March 31st 1948, & Special Warrant for the first quarter of 1948 had been issued in the sum of $9,000,000.