The British Government is agreed in principle to guaranteeing the loan which will be issued by the Palestinian Government, but it is unable to give this guarantee until an Act of Parliament is passed to that effect, according to Lord Arnold, Under-Secretary in the Colonial Office, who gave this information to Lord Raglan in reply to a question of his concerning the liabilities of the Palestinian Government, and its plans for floating a loan.
Lord Arnold further stated that a bill will be introduced in Parliament in the matter, and that there will then be an opportunity for a thorough discussion.
While the amount of the loan has not yet been fixed, Lord Raglan suggested that it should be 3,000,000 pounds.
Lord Arnold gave the following figures in the matter of the Palestinian Government’s liabilities: The Palestinian Government has expended 1,861,000 pounds on the construction of railroads, roads, bridges, telegraph and telephone lines, which will have to be repaid out of the loan. The government has also already received credit to the amount of 1,483,000 pounds and is in possession of British property in railways and telegraph lines to the amount of 2,190,000 pounds. This latter sum will have to be repaid by the Palestinian Government when its financial position is improved.
Palestine will also have to pay its share of the Turkish national debt, according to the provisions of the Lausanne Treaty.
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.
