Page 172 - PERSIAN 8 1931_1940_Neat

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SECTION r.
Manumission.
During 3933 the following number of slaves were manumitted :_
Bahrain Agency 17
Muscat Agency 21
Sharjah Agency 4
R. P. WATTS, Major,
Secretary to the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf.

SECTION 8.
Trade and Trade Facilities.
The conditions described in the section on Trade in the Administration
Report for 3932 remain practically unaltered and the prospects of any improve­
ment in trade were far from bright, while the struggle for existence against the
strangulating restrictions imposed by the Government brought merchants to
the verge of collapse. Month after month the general despair was reflected in
the hopeless reports which came in from the bazaar.
The refusal of the local Customs authorities to furnish statistics makes an
accurate analysis of the trade of Bushire practically impossible. Some indica­
tion of the countries of origin of imports may be gleaned from the information
kindly pul at our disposal by the agents of the various steamship linos calling
at the port but in many cases where goods have been transhipped the report's
may be misleading. No details of the weights or values of imports or exports
are available.
The application of a quota system and the total prohibition to import many
classes of goods has limited merchants to a very restricted range and the mono­
poly of practically all staple articles further reduces the scope of importers and
forces the remainder of the trade into the hands of a few of the wealthier mer­
chants.
In desperation, many of the smaller traders lose no opportunity of evading
the law and, in spite of attempts to suppress it, smuggling both inwards and out­
wards is still flourishing. It is said that good profits are made from gold
smuggled out of the country by judicious sale of the resulting foreign exchange.
The fictitious value which exchange control places on Persian produce in world
markets has also had its natural effect on the demand for Persian goods abroad.
The determination of the central government to recover the losses it had
incurred on the dollar exchange resulted in the imposition of terms on the
motor trade which it was unable to support and the import of cars and acces­
sories was, consequently, practically suspended.
The Government having amassed a considerable holding of dollars at the
rate of Rials 28.28 to the dollar was greatly perturbed by the loss occasioned
when the United States of America abandoned the gold standard and the rate
dropped to about Rials 17 to the dollar. In order to make up this loss it was
declared that motor cars, tyres and accessories could only be imported on con­
dition that payment was made in dollars purchased from the Government, at
the rate of Rials 28.28 per dollar. To illustrate the etfect of this unfair discri­
mination against the motor trade it was reported in August, when the dollar
sterling rate was about $4.80, that the sterling-rial rate on this basis would be
as much as Rials 133.74 while the bank rate was only Rials 83.
In an endeavour to expedite the acceptance of these terms a further blow
was dealt to the trade by the subjection of purchases of the exchange to interest
at 0 per cent, per annum as from the 22nd June. This severe handicap, added
to the existing obligation to purchase import licences from the National Bank
at a rate also fixed by the Government, and the uncertainty of the valuation
which would be placed on the goods on arrival by the Customs assessors,
naturally caused much discontent and importers were unwilling to accept the
risk of placing further orders.
These regulations remained in force until the end of the year and com­
pletely arrested the progress which British Trucks were making ip this market.