Coll 28/67 ‘Persia. Annual Reports, 1932–’ [‎34v] (68/644)

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377. This credit balance of £1,794,000, or 5,965,050 dollars (at 3 325),
compares very unfavourably, of course, with that of March 1931, amounting to
£3,885,000, or 18,803,000 dollars (at 4-84), the reduction in the dollar credit
being particularly striking, amounting to over 67 per cent.
378. The fact remains, nevertheless, that the Persian Government can
consider themselves fortunate in having maintained so liquid a position in
of adverse circumstances. There is very little excuse, however, for t^^
extraordinary expenditure incurred or about to be incurred on armaments, the
total amount earmarked for this purpose since March 1929 being £2| million,
apart from the naval appropriations.
Railway Finance.
379. The Tehran newspaper Kushish stated, on the 16th August, 1931,
that the Sugar and Tea Monopoly Tax, from its inception in May 1928 to the
22nd March, 1931, had brought in 40-276 million tomans 10,000 Persian dinars, or a gold coin of that value. , whilst the expenditure
incurred on the railway during that period amounted to 21-925 millions, leaving
a surplus of 18-35 millions. This computation appears to be confirmed by the
table referred to in the foregoing section, showing the balances held by the
Treasury on the 22nd March, 1931, including 18 million tomans 10,000 Persian dinars, or a gold coin of that value. in the
railway fund.
380. Receipts during the period March 1931 to December 1932 (twenty-one
months) appear to have totalled 17 million tomans 10,000 Persian dinars, or a gold coin of that value. , averaging 19-5 million tomans 10,000 Persian dinars, or a gold coin of that value.
for the two years ending the 22nd March, 1933. On the other hand, the
unappropriated balance in the railway fund in December 1932 amounted to
7-5 millions. If we add 2| millions for the next quarter’s revenue (the
expenditure incurred during that quarter being met out of the amounts already
appropriated), the railway fund at the beginning of the next Persian year should
show a credit balance of 10 million tomans 10,000 Persian dinars, or a gold coin of that value. , or, roughly, £1 million.
381. The position on the 22nd March next can therefore be tabulated as
follows :—
(In millions of tomans 10,000 Persian dinars, or a gold coin of that value. .)
Total revenue— Credit balance ... 10,000
40-276 + 19-5 ... 59-776 Expenditure ... 49-776
59 776 59-776
382. This allows for an expenditure during the two years ending the
22nd March next of 49-776 million tomans 10,000 Persian dinars, or a gold coin of that value. , less the 21-925 million tomans 10,000 Persian dinars, or a gold coin of that value. spent
up to March 1931, or 27-85 million tomans—the rate of exchange having gone
heavily against Persia—as compared with revenue estimated at 19-5 million
tomans 10,000 Persian dinars, or a gold coin of that value. only.
383. Where future construction is concerned, the only up-to-date figures
in the possession of the Legation refer to the south. When the Shah told the
American engineer in charge to estimate the cost and the time it would take to
bring the line through the formidable Luristan range, he was furnished with
the following figures :—
Salehabad-Bahrein (a little south of Khorremabad) : 212 kilom.
Cost: 43 million tomans 10,000 Persian dinars, or a gold coin of that value. to be expended locally -f 6 million dollars to be
spent on foreign material = at present rates of exchange roughly
60 million tomans 10,000 Persian dinars, or a gold coin of that value. , or £6 million.
Tunnelling alone would account for 23 million tomans 10,000 Persian dinars, or a gold coin of that value. at 1 million tomans 10,000 Persian dinars, or a gold coin of that value.
the kilometre.
Time: Three years.
384. The most that can be expected from the sugar and tea monopoly at the
present rate of taxation (which includes a gold surcharge of 160 per cent.) is
10 million tomans 10,000 Persian dinars, or a gold coin of that value. a year, so that the most the Persian Government would have
to spend during these three years—if they are limited to their present source of
revenue for railway purposes—is 30 million tomans 10,000 Persian dinars, or a gold coin of that value. , plus the 10 millions already
in the railway fund in March 1933, or 40 millions in all, equalling £4 million.