IOR/R/15/2/1821

The file comprises papers relating to the accounts (actual expenditure and estimated budget) of the Political Agencies at Bahrain and Sharjah:

• a copy of a circular written by Ernest Bevin, then Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, dated 18 July 1946, requesting returns from overseas agencies of their expenditure for the period April to September 1946, and enclosing specimen forms (ff 3-7, with duplicates at ff 10-14);
• a copy of a second circular from Bevin, dated 30 April 1948, acknowledging the difficulties and delays in receiving accounts of expenditure for 1946, and stressing the need for accurate and prompt accounts for the period 1948-1949, with a revised form for returns enclosed (ff 8-9);
• compiled budget estimates for the Political Agency at Bahrain, and for the Sharjah and Dubai Agencies, for the financial year 1949-50 (ff 16-26);
• further specimen forms for annual returns of expenditure, listed under various subheadings (public information services, consular establishments, diplomatic establishments, commercial diplomatic establishments) (ff 31-37);
• the annual return of expenditure and receipts for the Political Agency in Bahrain for the period 1 April to 30 September 1948, with financial estimates for the subsequent eighteen months (ff 39-50).

Financial figures are given in a mixture of British sterling and Indian rupees, with conversion rates indicated (for example, 1 pound sterling being equivalent to 13.26 rupees, f 39).