TNAG-2407-FCO40-3500-Airport-issues-in-Hong-Kong-Provisional-Airport-Authority.-W-1992 — Page 4

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industry was not over-stretched.

On the other side of the

coin however the current international lending environment

was not very healthy. The Japanese banks, whom he expected would provide up to 50% of the financing, were having to

retrench. He was also concerned that the Hong Kong

Government might not be able to take decisions as quickly as in the past, given the increasingly political environment. He thought what was primarily needed was more confidence:

administration was being done effectively but the confidence

was no longer there.

Mr Hum asked how crucial it was that funding from the

Finance Committee was made available before the summer.

What would be the impact of a delay? Mr Allen said that the

platform formation contract had to be let in August. This

was already 3 months later than scheduled but this had been

made possible by squeezing the time allocated for building

the terminal. This could not now be squeezed any further

and so delays in awarding the platform construction contract

would lead to delays in the completion of the terminal

building. He said that since they were not actually looking

for money from the banks until next year, a delay would not have a direct impact in that area. However, he said if the institutions perceived that the project was becoming not a particularly good risk, this could well mean that the

interest rates required from banks would be higher than they

might otherwise have been.

PUGAEO/2

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