File 1283/1913 Pt 5 'MESOPOTAMIA TRADE Issue of new Trade Report' [‎22r] (39/270)

9
%
Steps have been taken with a view ultimately to standardizing weights
on the basis of the Constantinople oke. The reform must however take long
sinco the grea,t bulk of merchants use crude scales jyid lumps of iron or stone
with the additions of bits of wire. There is a considerable opening for the
introduction of simple weighing apparatus which however must be cheap.
The weights must be okes and fractions thereof^ the oke as already stated being
2.8282 lb. Steel yards are widely used by the wholesale merchants and are
calibrated in okes.
There is greater diversity of practice in the adoption of a standard of
length; both the metre and English yard are well known in Basrah, Baghdad
and Mosul, but there are many other “ yards ’’ in use. It has been decided
for the^ present not to attempt to enforce a universal standard of length.
An example of the diversity of practice in weights may be gathered from
the following examples taken from Basrah: —
. i J aJfi* ' : - ' sbfi 1'-' * '
l Mauud of dates in parts of Basrah = 51 okes..j. r; ... a ] 1(
,, other parts of Basrah = 60 okes. f t ;
coffee
= 50 okes. . ; \ ; ;l [ .
•; u, •; 1
soap
sugar
= 6 „ j i
- 10 „ . T : T ; r.
■ uiurl
Tobacco
70 ..
; U-: r-:f.
Pepper
= 11 ,,
« : ’ ■ ■ 1 if ■
INTERNAL CURRENCY,'
f - • r . U f i: t • y.
The somewhat complex Currency system prevailing in ‘Iraq before the
war was considerably simplified by the introduction of rupees Indian silver coin also widely used in the Persian Gulf. (silver and
notes) as the regular medium by which the Expeditionary. Force paid for its
local purchases, and in which, as far as possible, the Civil Administration
received payment of its dues. The change was effected in the ordinary course
of administration, without recourse to official Proclamation or other special
machinery, except in the single instance of a “ Proclamation of December,
1916,” by which traffic was forbidden in Turkish Government' paper. The
rupee currency is now established as the principal medium of exchange, rupee
paper standing not infrequently at a premium, the only other currency m
the field being the gold lira, which is used chiefly in local purchases such as
live-stock, wool, houses and land, and in inter-tribal transactions. No-
statutory legal tender exists, but the claim of the rupee to this status has
the sanction of usage, while the gold lira is not being accepted, except in a
few special cases, in payment of Government dues nor dealt in by the Banks,
otherwise than as bullion. In the latter capacity, the lira has been the
object of considerable speculation, and its value has fluctuated violently
during the last twelve months.
Apart from the special influence of speculation, the local exchange rale
between liras and rupees Indian silver coin also widely used in the Persian Gulf. fluctuates from day to day, according to the supply
and demand. The chief determining factors are: —
(а) Rupee sterling rate
(б) Sterling gold rate
(c) Availability of gold bullion in London and elsewhere.
(d) Cost and availability of freight, and cost of insurance.
In April 1919, when the rupee sterling rate was Is. 6cL, the lira-rupee rate-
in Baghdad waSi about Rs. 18; while in May, 1920, the rates were respectively
about 2s. Id. and Rs. 13-12.
For the special purpose of the repayment of debts, a Proclamation of
1917 fixed the exchange value of the lira at Rs. 14-4, and the rate was adopted
also in the few cases m which the lira was accepted m payment of Government
dues. The recent alteration in the rupee conversion rate of the sovereign has ed
to a corresponding reduction in the official rate for the lira, which now stands,
for the purpose of payment of revenue, at Rs. 9.03125. In the interest of
debtors the 1916 Proclamation against the use of Turkish Government paper
currency has been cancelled and re-payment of debts m paper permitted m
certain cases. . . • .
Some uncertainty no doubt exists-as to the future position of the liia
(both paffer and and gold), butithere is a sufficient quantity of rupees Indian silver coin also widely used in the Persian Gulf. and
small change (in the shape of , half and quarter rupees Indian silver coin also widely used in the Persian Gulf. , and nickel and copper
subdivisions of the rupee) in circulation to meet ordinary trade requirements,
and the only practical disadvantage to business arising irom the uncertainty
as to the lira is in connection with the valuation of existing stocks.
I
. h. /,
II. Foreign Exchange. j
The principal foreign rates of exchange quoted in the Baghdad and
Basrah markets are: —
(q) Rates per Rs. 10,0 for Kran bills on Kirmanshah, Hamadan, &c.
(6) Rates per £100 for Sterling bills on London. 1
The former is directly influenced from day to day by the activity of the
Imperial Bank of Persia in its Kran Sterling transactions between Teheran