CO129-606-4 Hong Kong Loan- government grant 1-4-1947 - 2-3-1948 — Page 81

the Governor's

be

2. In your telegrams No.6 and No.533 you envisages

that the Colony will be able to balance its budget

in 1947/48 so far as recurrent expenditure is

concerned, but that special expenditure to be met

from loan funds will amount to $60,000,000 in addition

his to the $40,000,000 in 1946/47 referred to in your

telegram No.450. Further special expenditure will

doubtless be required in subsequent years: In addition

there is a possible liability in respect of war damage

be compensation which you suggested in paragraph 10 of her

despatch No.164 may be as high as $740,000,000.

your

(53652/47)

(55/54126/1/46)

The actual amount

of any complexation

Come as y be le is on that grave. this for telepon No.809 has some

(5/55077/2/47)

Of the

bearing

on this

point

[03/55/5/4/^5

3. I would also refer to my telegram No.476 regarding

the in telegram expenditure in Macao and to your reply/No.534.

total Foreign Office claim of £478,629, £11,509 relates

to expenditure on pensions and salaries of Hong Kong

Government officials and I assume that there will be no

difficulty in meeting this expenditure, provided it is

satisfactorily vouched, from Hong Kong Government funds,

and that it is only in respect of that part (£467,120)

of the claim relating to relief, to which political

the Governors objection may be raised. In paragraph 3 of

telegram No.534, in addition to the expenditure in Macao,

reference

so wade

you befer to possible objections being raised to Hong Kong

being charged with expenditure on the return passages

of those who were sent to the United Kingdom and other

countries after the liberation of the Colony, and with

the expenditure on the demobilisation and pensions of

the Hong Kong volunteers. This latter question was also

referred to in savingram No.464 of 30th December 1946.

• Sur Mark Young's

thes

(6/55077/2/47)

(36550/19/46)

It is observed from a telegram No.589 that the expenditure (1/54126/6/47)

on passages and on the volunteers has been charged

temporarily to a suspense account pending a decision as to

the final incidence of charge.

4. It is clear that in any event the total financial

liabilities with which the Colony will be faced are

Considering the various extremely heavy, and in brder that may be in a better.

questions referred to above,

position