| Description | There is considerable overlap between the various groups of files in this series, and also overlap between this series and OV47. OV44/1-15, 49-53 and 55 contain much material on the Sterling Balances. The 1947 convertibility crisis and the 1949 devaluation are covered, in outline and not comprehensively, in OV44/1-3 and 16-18. The unification of non-resident sterling outside the Dollar Area, 1954, and of all non-resident sterling, 1958, is mainly in OV44/19-26 and 59-65. The group 'Empire Currency' is incomplete and some equivalent papers on Malaya, Singapore, and Borneo Territories are in OV65; on Zanzibar, in OV76; on East Africa in OV78; and on Aden, in OV143. The 1967 devaluation of sterling is covered, fairly comprehensively, in OV44/136-150. Some earlier papers on devaluation are in OV44/132-135. The 1968 Sterling Guarantee Agreements and the related Bank for International Settlements (BIS) Facility are covered in OV44/159-224 (policy aspects) and OV44/225-320 (country detail). Some prior papers are in OV44/151-158. There is a comprehensive history in two parts of the Agreements and Facility: (a) the first part, by Ronald Henry Gilchrist, covers the period 1966 to the conclusion of the negotiations in September 1968 (OV44/182 folio 95); (b) the second part, by R E Barber, takes the story through the 1971 renewal of the Agreements and Facility, the continuation of the guarantee for short periods in 1973 and 1974 by Unilateral Declaration, to termination in December 1974. (OV44/219 folio 75). There is also a short history, dated 13 August 1970, by Richard Henry Turner of the Hong Kong Agreement and the short lived prior Hongkong dollar bond arrangements: OV44/264. OV44/225-320 (individual country cut-ups) cover the 66 participants in the guarantee arrangements: Abu Dhabi, Antigua, Australia, Bahamas, Bahrain, Bangladesh Barbados, Belize (British Honduras), Bermuda, Botswana, British Caribbean Currency Board, British Solomon Islands, British Virgin Islands, Brunei, Cayman Islands, Cyprus, Dubai, East African Currency Board, East Caribbean Currency Authority, Falkland Islands, Fiji, The Gambia, Ghana, Gibraltar, Gilbert & Ellice Islands, Grenada, Guyana, Hong Kong, Iceland, India, Ireland, Jamaica, Jordan, Kenya, Kuwait, Lesotho, Libya, Malawi, Malaysia, Malta, Mauritius, Montserrat, New Zealand, Nigeria, Pakistan, Pitcairn Islands, Qatar, Qatar/Dubai Currency Board, St Helena, St Kitts, St Lucia, St Vincent, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Sri Lanka (Ceylon), Tanzania, Tonga, Trinidad, Tristan da Cunha, Turks and Caicos Islands, Dominica, Uganda, West African Currency Board, Currency Board Western Samoa, and Zambia. Australia, Kuwait and Malaysia/Singapore were regarded as key countries in the negotiations. Hongkong, Ireland, Jamaica and Nigeria were also important. The files for these have been retained largely intact but, due to the repetitive nature of their content, other country files have been scaled down. The independent country files contain: (a) the 1968 negotiating brief; (b) the negotiations by joint Treasury (HMT)/Bank teams leading to the 1968 Agreements, including texts of Agreement, Letter of Implementation and side letters; (c) 1971 renewal negotiations; (d) Local reactions to the floating of sterling and imposition of exchange control against the sterling area; (e) joint Treasury (HMT)/Bank team consultations on the future of the Agreements following the floating of sterling and in particular on proposals for implementation under floating rates - the latter were never finalised; (f) the two short term extensions of the guarantees in 1973 and 1974; (g) the implementation of the Agreement and the 1973 Declaration. Other points of interest are noted in the country listings. Dependent territories and currency boards had a simplified form of agreement and much of (a) to (g) above is not relevant to them. The reporting aspects of the Agreements are in EID15/1 to 12, including consolidated monthly statements of total and sterling reserves and country certificates for the two implementations.
Files OV44/86, OV44/87, OV44/91, OV44/101 within this series are available to view online via the Australian Joint Copying Project, National Library of Australia: https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-761671767/findingaid
URLS for individual files are provided at item level. |