TNAG-0448-FCO40-513-Sterling-assets-and-balance-of-payments-of-Hong-Kong-1974 — Page 126

FCO40 Hong Kong Department Records 聯邦事務部香港部檔案 All

DRAFT

Personal and confidential

P. Haddon-Cave, Esq.

Hong Kong.

I am sorry to see from the recent exchanges of

telegrams that the six month arrangement should

seemingly have come to an end on a note of discord.

But though an issue of principle has arisen, I am not

now sure that there need be any difference between us

in practice on the amount of compensation for which

Hong Kong will be eligible.

At the cost of this rather

long letter, let me set out the position as I now see it.

Your good faith in this matter has not of course been

in doubt and I certainly appreciate the circumstances

in which you have operated, and that (unjustified)

criticism may arise locally when your topping-up

purchases become known.

But I frankly still find it

difficult to see how the relevant provision lends itself

to your interpretation.

rightly that the point of the guarantee has been to

insulate the rate against pressure from switching out,

the fact is that any guarantee requires a specification

of conditions, and you will appreciate that as a matter

of accountability we have to satisfy ourselves that such

conditions have been fully met. This is why our

telegrams indicated that we were not able entirely to

disregard the fact that the Hong Kong position was

Moreover, although you indicate

somewhat below 100 per cent satisfaction of the se

conditions on three successive monthly reporting dates.

1

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