'File 8/16 Bahrain Intelligence Reports' [‎181r] (361/432)

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Riyals had risen to Rs 85 per thousand Riyals.
At present the premium on Saudi Riyals is Rs 20 per
thousand if Riyals are purchased for silver rupees Indian silver coin also widely used in the Persian Gulf. 0 If rupee
currency notes are tendered, the premium on Riyals is Rs 60 per
thousand Riyalso
The fall in the value of the Riyal against the rupee
is believed to be due to a decline in the demand for Riyals
from Kuwait (cf* para 133 (iii) (b) of Intelligence Summary
No,13 of 1942)o Riyals are still reported to be scarce through
out Hasa«
Food Supplies - Bahrain ,
(i) For several months shipments of rice and wheat flour
from India to Bahrain have been disappointingly small, and the
island has been receiving only a fraction of its allotted quota
of these commoditieso Stocks of rice are sufficient only for
three weeks, and there is less than one week r s supply of flour
availableo As the public have been receiving up to date their
full ration (small though it is) of rice and flour, there is no
general anxiety about the food position* But H e Ho the Shaikh
is aware of the real state of affairs and is deeply worried
and anxious* Mitigating factors are the good date crop, and
a reserve of several hundred tons of Canadian wheat* But if,
as seems likely, stocks of rice become exhausted in the course
of the winter an economic crisis will ensue which will almost
certainly be attended by grave political consequences*
(ii) Reference para 185 (ii) of Intelligence Summary No.17
of 1942 in which it was reported that 7835 tons of sugar^had
been stored in Bahrain by the M*E*3*C. for eventual use in
Iran and Iraq*
The majority of this sugar has now been stored in
go-downs but many hundreds of bags are still stacked on the
Customs pier. The sight of so much sugar has provoked much
comment locally. Many housewives are asking why the sugar
ration should not be increased when there is so vast a quantity
of sugar stored in Bahrain. Others argue that if the British
Government has such large reserves of sugar it must also have
equally la^ge reserves of rice and flour with which, in time
of need, it can help the people of Bahrain* The latter argu
ment, illogical and fallacious as ii* obviously is, appears
everywhere to be accepted as valid, and there will be a violent
revulsion of feeling should the shortage of rice become more
acute and help from the ’’British Government*' fail to materialise.
Food Supplies - Saudi Arabia *
Major Griffin, representing the MiE.S.C., and Mr.
Negib Salha, one of Ibn Baud*s Ministers, visited Bahrain
during the period under report in order to discuss with^the
Political Resident A senior ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul General) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Residency. the merits and practicability of various
schemes which have been propounded with the double objects of
supplying Saudi Arabia with essential foodstuffs from India
and of enabling the Saudi Government to attract to its Treasury
at least the number of Riyals which it requires to finance its
public services* Major Griffin was mainly interested in the
solution section of long-term problems* Mr* Negib Salha
proved to be less interested in arrangements or undertakings
for the future than in the problem of immediate supplies for
Saudi Arabia, especially for the Province of Hasa where^rice
and flour are badly needed, and it seemed that he was timorous
of returning to Riyadh to face Ibn Saud without some^concrete
achievment to his credit. Mr. Negib Salha’s objective was
to some extent attained in that he succeeded in securing 300
tons of wheat on loan from H.H* the Shaikh of Bahrain on the
understanding that the loan would be repaid in kind at the
earliest opportunity; and he also reached an understanding
with the Political Agent A mid-ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Agency. , Kuwait, in regard to supplies of
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