Page:Statesman's Year-Book 1921.djvu/845

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FINANCE

The main items of the Budget for 1921 are shown as follows:—

Revenue Crowns Expenditure Crowns
Total Extraordinary Total Extraordinary
Public Debt 1,085,879,69 272,421,000
Ministry of— Ministry of:—
Finance 7,100,996,790 760,240,081 National Defence 2,368,800,110 1,111,619,479
Posts and Telegraphs 721,789,100 2,803,100 Education 608,344,4 277,411,896
Railways. 3,668,665,840 7,707,270 Finance 1,592,853,418 456,369,837
Agriculture 210,586,942 924,106 Posts and Telegraphs 721,498,700 294,088,500
Public Works 791,210,734 60,757,536 Railways 3,502,554,500 718,847,850
Public Works 1,020,931,381 383.066,125
the Interior 799,576,748 987,862,198
for Reconstruction 381,078,000 381,073,000
of Foreign Affairs 101,650,000 36,750,750

The debts of the new Republic fall into five categories—(1) debts resulting from the war; (2) Czecho-Slovakia's share of Austria-Hungary's pre-war debt; (3) tax of liberation, i.e., contribution to the war expenses of the Allies; (4) internal debt; (5) loans of the new Republic.

Some particulars of these loans are given as follows:—I. Debts resulting from the War.—(a) To United States: (1) For food supplies. Interest at 5 per cent. No fixed period of repayment. 57,744,750 dollars. (2) For supplies purchased from American Liquidation Commission. Interest at 5 per cent. Repayable in 1922, 5,000,000 dollars; repayable in 1923, 5,000,000 dollars; repayable in 1924, 14,942,546 dollars. (3) For CzechoSlovak army in Siberia. Interest at 5 per cent. No fixed date of repayment. Amount as yet not fixed. Estimate of minimum, 19,000,000 dollars. (4) For war materials purchased at Coblenz, 2,710,930 dollars. (b) To France (1) For war materials. Interest at 5 per cent. Repayable July, 1921. 110,000,000 francs. (2) For maintenance of Czecho-Slovak legions in France, 200,000,000 francs. (c) To Italy: (1) For maintenance of Czecho-Slovak army in Italy, 180.000,000 lire. (2) For raw materials. Due to group of Italian bankers. Interest at 6 per cent. 20,000,000 lira. (3) For credit arranged for one year on April 1, 1920, 6,000,000 lire. (d) To Great Britain: For relief supplies. Interest at 5 per cent. 304,1061.

II. Share of Austria-Hungary's pre-war debt-1.200,000,000 gold francs and 4,800,000,000 crowns.

III. Tax of liberation.—750,000,000 francs.

IV. Internal debt.—4,800,000,000 crowns of the old Austro-Hungarian Rente, and 8,000,000,000 crowns of Austro-Hungarian bank-notes circulating in the Republic, making a total of 12,800,000,000 crowns.

V. Loans of the Republic.—(1) First liberty loan, 1,000,000,000 crowns; (2) second liberty loan (4 per cent. State loan), payable 1923—24, 983,022,000 crowns; (3) Loan of Government from the banks, 1,031,500,000 crowns; (4) premium 4½ per cent. loan, payable 1926-60, amount not stated.

The total indebtedness of the State on December 31, 1820, is given as follows:—3,500,000,000 francs of foreign debt and 25,000,000,000 crowns as internal debt.

A Board of Audit and Control was constituted by an enactment of March 20, 1819. It is charged with the superintendence of State economy, the State property and the national debt. Thia Beard has an equal standing