TNAG-0622-FCO40-770-Budget-of-Hong-Kong-1977 — Page 39

Mr. Stewart's persmal

&

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condidential reply

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香港總督府

CONFIDENTIAL

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Bu 1/8/77/0

GOVERNMENT HOUSE

HONG KONG

25th June 1977

RE!

th

Joe Jih.

4 JUL1977

4kk 100/2.

Thank you for your letter of 16th June about the budget. From the diverse nature of the meetings on which it was based, the volume and complexity of the material discussed, and the differing degrees of mastery of it amongst those present, I don't imagine that it was easy to draft. I presume it contains your tentative comments rather than the text of a draft submission. If anything so formal as the latter is contemplated I would very much like to see it in draft, especially as you do seem to me to have gone rather astray in one or two places. For this reason I have shown it only to Denys Roberts, and the following comments are without benefit of expert advice.

2.

As I read your letter you are under the

impression that this year's budget:

3.

a)

did not adequately relate to the policies laid down in my Leg. Co. speech;

b)

c)

should have been seen to be (but by implication was not) an instrument of economic policy;

contained an inadequate forecast of long-term plans.

But with regard to (a) the speech stated in para. 91 that an objective of budgetary policy should be

progressively and to the maximum extent the economy will permit, to implement approved Government policies and programmes in such a way as to secure the public interest". Incidentally this was intended to be a restatement of Lord Goronwy Roberts' 'expectation' (a) in para. 6 of the record of 9th December 1976. Paras. 138-183 then spell out the Government programmes in both the text of

J.A.B. Stewart Esq., OBE

the

In Stewart is

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44