"ملف 60/20 I ‏(C 93) بنك إيران الامبريالية: البحرين وغيرها" [و‎‎٨‎٥] (٤٠٩/١٧٠)

System of Monopolies.
i • , 1 . f10 J 1 ™* experiment ol this
kind to be introduced was in ii,!
import trade in euear 0
comparatively lar 4 e quantities
oTltfnri rlr 4 0f a ^
OI "oences for the export of raw
"iai^V 0011 consumption ha"
practioaliy the nation's whole require-
ments m foreign exchangP, both for
e purchase of imports and for
financing Ks exports, had to be
at" rates the Bank
^ 8 C0mmJ S9J0D, o£
wh.ca the majority coneisted of
members of the Government eervice
and official of the National Bank.
measure was not as successful
as anticipated, and the import and
export tr ade of the country was, and
remains, badly disorganized.
At this time the value of sterl-
fifw e ?u re n 8ed J n kraDS was fix ed at
60 to the £. Trade was practically
brought to a standstill and a situa
tion created comparable with that
resulting from the prohibition laws
m the United Statee—namely
exporters sold their exchange to
importers direct and thus evaded the
t xisting law. Realizing at the last
the fallacy of having fixed a rate far
too high m intrinsic value, the Com
missioners were compelled some
months later to reduce it to 90 krans
to the £. Even this rate is inade
quate to tempt merchants to abandon
the prectice the new law engendered
and they still do their business at
rates far removed from the official
rate namely, somewhere in the
region of 102 krans to the &
The m x*; step was to acquire
from the Imperial Bank of Persia
its exclusive privilege of issuing
notes and to replace the bank's notes
ij Dational ia8 ue based upon a
gold exchange value. The with
drawal of the bank's issue was
timed to take place on March Slst
of this year, but as the Government
was not ready the date has had to be
postponed until September 21st
,M as also the change-over from a
ConHnmt m coL 6,
tontinued from column 4,
silver to a gold txshauge ourretcy.
In the meantime, supplementary
to the regulations regarding foreign
exchange transactions— Ais mea-
cesTful—a"' Bmlrraf, T 0 "
introduced in Parliament, and ha"
r'f '% ^ ** هذه التواريخ تقريبية ** هذه التواريخ تقريبية . by' which no
goods will be permitted to enter or
With0Ut a
to import or to export granted by
the Government, and then only such
merchandise as the Government
does not wish directly to control.
n, j . proposa!s "re the latest
method of regenerating the country's
trade and fiaanc?, all banking
activity outside Government oir-
"f. ^8 thus practically elimin-
ated. for the National Bank is for all
practical purposes a Government
Department. There are other and
important provitions in this Bill now
before Parliament.
Foreigners' Difficulties.
,, -J 0 fff^ct Persia to-day is for
the Persians alone, and no foreign
capital or enterprise will apparently
be tolerated. The difficulties that
have to be faced by British institu
tions, and those of other nations that
have been established for many years
m the country, are also shared at
present by Persian merchants and
traders, and it is a foregone conclu
sion that unless an amelioration of
present conditions is brought about
by amendments to the laws it will be
imposBible for foreign commercial
repregentatives to remain in the
country. Whether these possibilities
will ba recognized by the Ministers
at present holding office, or a general
withdrawal of foreigners from the
country be determined upon, remains
to be seen. Before such a step is
taken it is to be hoped that the
affront to all nations—for it can be
deemed no lese-^will have called
forth protest.
It may be asserted that the
foregoing has been written in a spirit
of criticism and is lacking in cons
tructive advice, but it is only fair to
state that counsel and advice from
the best sources available, and offers
of practicaf help from those to whom
the country is well known, have been
tendered freely to the Persian
QoverRmmt*