Printed papers on the political situation and military policy in Egypt [‎45v] (90/176)

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ment of national works, the provision of funds for development annually from
national income, without incurring further debt, and the refusal of solicitations to
undertake, co-operate in, or subsidise enterprises of a commercial nature on the
plausible "round that they are national benefactions. They will find the last danger
a peculiarly insidious one.
153. The reserve fund is an unusual feature in public finance, born of Egypt’s
lack of fiscal freedom and her financial dependence upon the world’s demand for a
single special article. The device has proved its utility continually since its
establishment; upon no occasion more so than when it enabled the Government to
meet and recover so promptly from the unprecedented deficit on the working of the
financial year 1920-21, a deficit which was very little short of the total annual
revenue of the State before the war. It should in the future be maintained at a
figure which both amply ensures external obligations and safeguards the financial
equilibrium of the State against those violent fluctuations to which it is peculiarly
susceptible, since the national economy is based upon a single commoditv.
28. Egyptian Debt.
154. The public debt was reduced in 1921 by £221,100 through the automatic
amortisation of the guaranteed loan, and stood on the 31st December, 1921, at
£92,866.540 distributed at follows :—
£
Guaranteed loan ... ... ... 5,766,800
Privileged debt ... ... ... 31,127,780
Unified debt ... ... ... 55,971,960
92,866,540
Of this total, £6,552,860 represents stock held by the Government and the
Commissioners of Debt. The amount in the hands of the public on the 31st December,
1921, was therefore £86,313,680.
29. Direct Tajces.
155. Land Tax. —Owing to the lower price of cotton in 1921, the collection of
the land tax was more difficult than in previous years : the arrears of the land tax
on the 31st December, 1921, including payments in advance, amounted to £E. 131,625
as against £E. 16,593 in excess on the corresponding date of 1920; and the
administrative seizures from the 1st April to the 31st December, 1921, amounted to
approximately 33,000 as against 12,000 for the corresponding period of 1920.
156. Cotton Tax. —The tax on cotton collected from the 1st April to the
31st December, 1921, amounted to £E. 1,609,740, of which sum £E. 1,149,380 was
collected between the 1st August and the 31st December, as against £E. 775,958
for the corresponding period in 1920. This increase is due to the fact that owing
to the fall in the price of cotton a considerable amount of 1920 cotton was not
ginned that year and consequently did not pay the tax until 1921.
157. Ghaffir Cess. —The increase in the ghaffir cess from £E. 1,179,000 for the
financial year 1920-21 to £E. 1,393,000 for the year 1921-22 is due to the cess
having been increased to cover the extra pay given to ghaffirs owing to the high
cost of living.
158. Agricultural Loans. —Apart from interest on Agricultural Bank loans,
amounting this year to £E. 608.744 and collected by the Direct Taxes Department,
that Department also collected an agricultural loan of £E. 25,000 issued by the
Government through the Agricultural Bank to assist small cultivators.
159. Government Land Rents. —The rents on Government lands, assessed and
collected by the Direct Taxes Department, amounted in 1920-21 to £E. 273,000;
of this amount, £E. 113,000 was derived from riparian lands rented by contract as
against £E. 106,000 in the previous year. The rentals on practically the whole
of these riparian lands, amounting to some 27,000 feddans odd, were reassessed
during the year.
160. Statistics, 1920-21.—The following table shows the collection returns of
the Direct Taxes Department for the financial year 1920-21 :—