The Palestine Currency Board was not consulted by the Israeli Government before the decision to issue new Israeli currency was taken, an official statement released here revealed. The Currency Board, a branch of the former Mandatory Power’s regime in Palestine which has not yet been liquidated, manages Palestine’s currency on behalf of the British Colonial Office.
Commenting on the Israeli Government’s action, the Financial Times, Britain’s leading financial organ, declared today that “it is recognized in London that the winding up of the Palestine Mandate created some sort of a vacuum?, since the Currency Board was administered from London under British control.” Nevertheless, the publication expresses surprise over the fact that the Israeli Government did not wait for the “outcome of negotiations for the political future of Palestine” before issuing the new currency.
“Banking quarters in London are taking the view that the circulation of Palestine Currency Board notes in areas outside of the Jewish state will have to came under review as a result of the Jewish Government’s decision,” the paper added.
An editorial published in the same issue of the Times asserts that there is a “clear indication” that the amount of currency issued by Israel may in due course a “well exceed the amount presently in circulation,” This viewpoint contrasts strangely with the friendly comment Voiced in a financial column appealing on the same page declaring that the introduction of the new currency “need occasion no surprise” since it has been generally assumed “that an independent Israeli Government is hardly likely to adhere to the Palestine pound.”
Speculating on the question as to whether the Jewish state should become a member of the sterling area or become more closely immigrated financially with the U.S., the same column points out that the fact that the “bulk of Palestine’s external reserve is invested in sterling favors the former course of action.”
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
