Coll 54/2 'Middle East (Official) Committee: Working Party' [‎85r] (169/642)

IX. TRIPOLITANIA
(I) GENERAL
< ..^^ e Population of Tripolitania numbers aLout
o06,000 including some 44*000 Italians, of whom about one half
are domiciled in the city of Tripoli* the other half "being
engaged for the most part in farming on Italian Colonisation
Settlements. The capital, Tripoli, has a population of about
136,000, including 20,000 Italians. The economy of the country
rests on its agricultural and pastoral industries and by far the
greater part of the inhabitants is engaged in one or other of
these, from the Italian Concessionaire on an irrigated static
farm to the nomadic Arab raising sheep and goats in the rough
grazing areas. Yet three quarters of the total area of the
country are always unproductive on account of the absence or
inadequacy of the rainfall in normal years and of the predominance
of desert or semi-desert conditions. Of the 22 million acres
suitable for agricultural purposes four-fifths are rough grazing
and less than five million acres are available for cultivation.
Of this over four millions are under shifting cereal cultivation
in scattered patches (native farming) and only about 800*000
acres are devoted to static farming in which Italian Colonists
play a major part. In fact, development in the economic field,
which in the case of Tripolitania has meant development of the
agricultural industry, during the Italian regime has had as its
primary objective, Italian Colonisation.
. t Nevertheless, the Italian Colonising farmers brought
in their train traders, small scale industrialists* soldiers,
civil servants and tourists, whose activities provided employment
and brought some degree of prosperity of the country. The
Spending power created by this influx* stimulated by the large
subsidies poured in by the Italian state, found its outlet in
large importations of consumer goods from Italy and, though
I-taly absorbed the greater part of the production of the Colony
in so far as anything was produced beyond lex al requirements* a
very large trade balance resulted in favour of Italy.
This period of artificial prosperity continued with
lessening degree for some time after the war, and even for a time
after the final occupation of the Territory by British Forces
early in 1943, us a result of the considerable spending of
occupational forces. The cessation or, at least, very
considerable lessening in this expenditure has, however, since
then had a depressing effect on the Territory and two successive
harvest failures in 1947 and 1948 made matters still worse. It
is important, in considering any possible means of developing the
economy of the country, to have in mind that by far the greater
part of the cultivation is dependent on rainfall and that in one
year in every three or four on an average this is inadequate and
the crops fail.
(XI) PRESENT FI NANCIAL POSIT ION
4* By reason of the fluctuations in the fortunes of the
Territory resulting from the fact that the crops one year may be
plentiful and another almost non-existent, a comparison of Trade
Deficits or of Budgetary Deficits of the Administration* year by
year, may be rather misleading. The average annual Budgetary
Deficit from the occupation to 30th June, 1949, has been in the
region of £400,000. On the other hand, as a result of a complete