THE SITUATION IN SOUTH VIETNAM (WEEKLY)

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP79T00826A001700010011-4
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 21
• Document Creation Date: December 20, 2016
• Document Release Date: June 25, 2001
• Sequence Number: 11
• Publication Date: February 27, 1967
• Content Type: IR

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Secret
No Foreign Dissem
DIRECTORATE OF
INTELLIGENCE
Intelligence Report
The Situation in South Vietnam
(Weekly)
Secret
148
27 February 1967
No. 0339/67
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Background Ufe Only
WARNING
This document contains information affecting the national defense of the
United States, within the meaning of Title 18, sections 793 and 794, of the
US Code, as amended. Its transmission or revelation of its contents to or
receipt by an unauthorized person is prohibited by law.
GROUP I
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CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
Directorate of Intelligence
THE SITUATION IN SOUTH VIETNAM
(20 February - 26 February 1967)
Section
POLITICAL SITUATION I
Potential presidential candidates
active behind the scenes; Work on
constitution progressing without
incident.
REVOLUTIONARY DEVELOPMENT II
Psychological support programs;
Present status of the GVN's land
reform programs; Administrative
revisions.
ECONOMIC SITUATION III
Prices; Currency and gold; Rice
situation; Labor problems; New
agricultural development bank.
ANNEX: Weekly Retail Prices in Saigon (table)
Saigon Free Market Gold and Currency Prices (graph)
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I. POLITICAL SITUATION
Potential candidates in the forth-
coming presidential election have not yet
displayed overt signs of their interest.
Behind the scenes, however, there is a
flurry of activity as hopeful nominees be-
gin the process of establishing the polit-
ical machinery to support them. Most ac-
tive among the evolving political organiza-
tions is the military establishment which
appears to be well organized in view of
the short time remaining before the elec-
tion. An increasing body of evidence
points up the probability that either Pre-
mier Ky or Chief of State Thieu will re-
ceive the military nod. In the Constituent
Assembly, in the meantime, work on the ex-
ecutive section of the constitution is
progressing in an atmosphere of general
harmony.
Potential Presidential Candidates Active Behind the Scenes
1. With the target date for promulgation of the con-
stitution only two months away, interest in the presiden-
tial elections is sharpening. Although no date has been
set for the election, it is supposed to be held within
three to six months after the constitution is in effect.
Premier Ky has publicly indicated that the government will
strive to hold it at the earliest date feasible. In the
midst of the intensifying private jockeying for position
among potential nominees, two trends are becoming increas-
ingly apparent. The first is that the military establish-
ment is beginning to organize its massive resources to
back a military candidate, who seems almost certain to be
either Premier Ky or Chief of State Thieu. Secondly,
indicate that a straight clvi
outdraw the military machine at the polls. Although the
logical conclusion to be drawn from these trends is that
either Ky or Thieu will be elected president, South.Viet-
namese politics are too fluid and opportunistic to make any
firm prediction possible at this time.
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2.
Ky and Thieu will try to reach agreement on which
man will become the candidate. If they privately
come to terms, their decision will be put to the
military members of the Directorate for approval be-
fore a public announcement is made. If the two fail
to agree, the military Directorate members, and pos-
sibly the Congress of the Armed Forces, will make the
choice. In any event, the source said, the military
organization will present only one candidate.
3. Although both men clearly appear to want the
job, the US Embassy believes that Ky's star is burn-
ing a little brighter than Thieu's for the time being.
One indication is the Constituent Assembly's action
of setting the minimum age limit for presidential can-
didates at 35 rather than 40 years. Ky is 37 and
would have been eliminated if the higher age limit had
bc~.:n imposed. Thieu is 43. The expected controversy
over the age issue failed to materialize in the as-
sembly and prominent assemblymen and political leaders
have construed this to mean that Ky has won the first
preliminary test of strength with Thieu. One southern
ex-cabinet official told an embassy officer that he
and the southern militants in the assembly had thought
beforehand that they had enough support to establish
the 40-year minimum which would favor Thieu.
4. Thieu, in the meantime, is acting more like
a candidate in spite of his silence on the subject,
according to his supporters. He is said to be care-
fully selecting representatives from the major blocs
of political power to provide him civilian support
and eventually to establish a national political front.
Such a hand-picked front would then hold a convention
and nominate the person approved, by the Directorate as
the candidate. Thieu is also pressing key assemblymen
behind the scenes for a constitutionally based supreme
armed forces council with specific powers. Thieu ap-
parently believes that if he does not run for the
presidency, his authority~as head of the council will
afford the military establishment, and himself, an
influential voice in the new government.
5. There is a growing body of opinion among Viet-
namese that civilian candidates for the presidency will
be hard put to defeat a military candidate. Two prominent
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Constituent Assembly deputies were recently quoted
as stating that the "government" nominee will win
without any difficulty. One of the delegates fur-
ther elaborated that the resources of the revolu-
tionary development and information ministries alone
would ensure a government candidate's election even
if an opposition candidate had a 500-million-piaster
campaign fund available to him.
6. These comments point up the problems facing
various independent civilian presidential aspirants,
none of whom presently has any organized national
political base. In the short time until elections,
it remains questionable whether the few existing
political parties or factions are capable of merging
into cohesive or effective alliances to support pres-
idential candidates. In this political vacuum, the
organization which appears to have the most effective
base is the military establishment, partly because of
its extensive influence in the government from the
district level through the Directorate.
Work on Constitution Progressing Without Incident
7. In its last five working days ending 22 Feb-
ruary, the Constituent Assembly has approved 19
articles dealing with the executive branch of govern-
ment. The final portions of the legislative section
were completed on 17 February. Most of the executive
articles concerned the routine duties and titles of a
popularly elected president of a republic and were
approved without difficulty.
8. The principal deviation from the original
draft document was the transfer of the right to de-
clare states of national emergency from the legisla-
ture to the executive, That change is indicative of
a trend to allocate more responsibility to the presi-
dent at the expense of both the legislature and the
appointed prime minister, It appears that the deputies
are agreed now that the president should be responsible
for the formulation of national policy and the prime
minister responsible only for its execution.
9,. The assembly surfaced a "council of ministers"
which had not been specified in the initial draft con-
stitution.. The council will reportedly consist of the
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president, vice president, and senior cabinet mem-
bers, although its function and authority at this
time are unspecified. The article outlining the
emergency powers reads, "the president may sign
decrees declaring states of emergency, curfew, and
tension." The president also has the right to
prolong the terms of office of some elected bodies
in wartime if elections cannot be held. The legis-
lature, however, must approve the extensions by a
two-thirds majority.
10. The last order of business in the assembly
on 22 February was the approval, after an afternoon
of stormy debate, of a national security council
with the president as its chairman. The council's
functions will be to propose declarations of war or
the holding of peace talks; to propose the declara-
tion of states of war, emergency, curfew, or tension;
and to propose measures appropriate to the maintenance
of national security. The article did not specify the
members of the council; they will probably be stipulated
in subsequent legislation once both houses of the na-
tional assembly are elected and functioning.
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II, REVOLUTIONARY DEVELOPMENT
Two programs designed to provide
psychological support to RD teams in the
field are scheduled to commence in March.
The GVN, in the face of upcoming national
and local elections, appears to have be-
come more interested in implementing land
reform programs affecting tenancy and fi-
nancial support to farmers. However, ex-
propriation of land, perhaps the most
sensitive political issue for the present
government, is not expected to be acted
upon in the near future. The Secretariat
for Justice is rewriting the five basic
codes which are the heart of the Viet-
namese legal system and attempting to pro-
vide greater access to the courts for the
people. A recent reshuffling of GVN sec-
retariats, although not generally signif-
icant, may facilitate more thorough eco-
nomic planning and better implementation
of GVN programs.
Psycho logical Support programs
1. A magazine directed at RD cadres in the
hamlets is scheduled to appear on 1 March, The
magazine will be published by the Ministry of In-
formation and appears to be designed to keep RD
group members informed of the activities of their
colleagues and to provide motivational material.
On 27 March the RD Ministry (MORD) will begin
broadcasting a new radio series publicizing and
explaining RD. These innovations should provide
some continuing psychological support to the cadres
groups, who are frequently isolated from mass com-
munications media.
2. General Thang, the minister for 'revolu-
tionary :development, established a new system of
interministerial. inspection teams on 13 February.
Representation on the six inspection teams includes
the Joint General Staff, Ministry of Revolutionary
Development, MACV, OCO, and various technical minis,
tries.: The teams were programed to visit the 26
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priority provinces during the period 13-27 Feb-
ruary, and to repeat their itinerary every month
thereafter. There is one team each for I and II
Corps and two teams each for III and IV Corps.
Present Status of the GVN's Land Reform Programs
3. Despite the fact that the words "land re-
form" usually convey such ideas as redistribution
of land, the dissolution of large landhbld.izigs; of.:
private individuals, and fundamental changes in land
tenancy and financial arrangements, however,,over-
night changes from land reform programs in Vietnam
have proved unattainable. In the reality of the
power structure, radical change could threaten the
stability of the government, even -,AhougL it has ap-
parently recognized the need to cultivate popular
allegiance. Nevertheless, the government has been
working within an indigenous frame of reference to
alter the system of land tenure which has been one
of the principal sources of mass alienation from
past Vietnamese regimes. Broadly speaking, these
efforts are a part of the Revolutionary Development
program.
4? Several GVN. steps, taken over the past
year have been pointed toward progress in land re-
form, particularly in areas of land tenure and ag-
ricultural development? In these two categories
the GVN appears to have demonstrated a political and
administrative capability for effective action As
pacification progresses, Revolutionary Development
should provide the framework and organization for
implemention of broader programs,.
5. Two existing statutes--Ordinance 57 and
Ordinance 2--provvide the basis of the government's
programs. Strict enforcement of these ordinances
would be a major step toward equity and opportunity
for marginal landowners, tenant farmers, and-squatters
since these regulations concern former French lands,
rent controls, and rental contracts.. In December
1966, premier Ky allizxt'ted 1,5 million piasters to
enable the Ministry of Agriculture to expedite the.
preparation of 100,000 permanent titles for farmers
tilling GVN-owned lands, as provided in Qrdinanc&"57,
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Premier Ky presented a number of these property
deeds on 22 February to six province chiefs in a
ceremony at Bien Hoa, and again on 24 February to
ten delta province chiefs in a ceremony at Can
Tho, for distribution to farmers in their provinces.
These transfer arrangements supposedly gave 57,000
farmers approximately 273,000 acres of land. Ky
has stated that the GVN hopes to endow 300,000
peasants with land titles in 1967. Although Ordi-
nance 57, promulgated by Diem in 1957, prohibits
ownership of land in excess of 240 acres, this has
not been rigidly enforced. Under this law approx-
imately 1.1 million acres have been expropriated--
mostly French land acquired under Diem--and ap-
proximately 600,000 acres have been sold so far
to 115,000 farmers on six-year purchase contract.5.
6. On 24 December 1966, Premier Ky signed a
village-hamlet reorganization decree which specif-
ically included an agricultural a:f,fa:i;rs member on:.an
elected village administrative committee. This offi-
cial is to be responsible for agricultural. affairs
including the administration of village-owned lands;
a certain amount of communal land has been tradi-
tional in Vietnamese villages. The December decree,
placing the basic administration of land affairs in
an elected village government, is not a completely
new innovation in view of a traditional Vietnamese
concept of village autonomy and democracy, but such
elections have not been widely possible for some
time. Phased elections for village councils are
scheduled to be held during April, followed by
hamlet elections beginning in May.
7. The RD program is also fostering the develop-r
ment of rural cooperatives and of the Vietnamese
Farmers' Association which will benefit from the
new Agricultural Development Bank (see Economic
Section, Part III). The Vietnamese Farmers' As-
sociation, with the election of a 13-member cen-
tral board of directors and a general manager has,
in effect, established itself as a national organ-
ization, independent of the government, except for
technical advice and assistance. Prior to the es-
tablishment of the central board, the Farmers' As-
sociation had. not been organized beyond the pro-
vincial level and had been managed by a directorate
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within the Agriculture Ministry. As an independent
entity, the Farmers' Association should foster in-
creased farm efficiency and permit farmers greater
independence in operation of enterprises. Presently,
the membership of 147,232 farmers is organized into
60 district, and 428 village Farmer Associations.
In 1967 the Association hopes to establish ten new
district and 150 new village associations.
8. The GVN has incorporated into the 1967
agriculture program funds for expanded technical
assistance to farmers, increased credit for irriga-
tion and other projects designed to raise farm pro-
ductivity, and support for expanded development
services offered by the Farmers' Association.
9. Other rtir2al. programs or plans under con-
sideration are the establishment of elected village
agricultural affairs committees; the enforcement of
a 15 December 1965 directive of the Ministry of Agri-
culture waiving certain back rents or taxes due on
lands in Viet Cong territory which come under GVN
control; and a lowering of the maximum land reten-
tion rate.
10. Impending natural and local elections are
probably the major impetus in the country's growing
interest in land reform. As recently as November
1966, there was rather strong opposition within the
Constituent Assembly (CA), to any constitutional
provision on land policy, but on 26 January 1967
the CA. pass.ed,,on the first ballot, Article 20 of
the draft constitution which notes that, the govern-
ment's policy is to 'lhblp the farmer have land to
farm." This commitment in principle could provide a
foundation for more substantive legislation and
application.
11. In addition, the Saigon= govei"nm.ent has.
directed the Ministry of Justice to rewrite the five
basic codes which are the center of the Vietnamese
legal system--the civil and criminal codes of pro-
cedure, the civil and criminal. codes, and the com-
mercial code. The purpose is to modernize the le-
gal system and alleviate past injustices in apply-
ing the laws. New civil and criminal codes of pro-
cedure have been drafted and circulated among other
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ministries, and are awaiting Prime Minister Ky's
approval, The fifth code--the commercial code--
is still being drafted, The Commissoner General of
Justice, Tran Minh Tiet, has requested US assistance
in the project.
12, In an effort to provide access to the Court
of Appeals for people who cannot travel to Saigon,
the criminal division of the Saigon Court of Appeals
has agreed -to hold regular circuit court sessions
at Can Tho and Da Lat. The first circuit court ses-
sion ever to take place outside Saigon was held in
Can Tho on 1 and 2 January, and 20 appeal cases were
adjudicated. The general trial court has also begun
circuit hearings, holding its first at Blao, in Lam
Dong Province. Concurrent with the opening of the
session in Lam Dong---a province populated largely
by montagnards--was the appointment of a montagnard
as judge of this court. The new judge is a graduate
of the National Institute of Administration in Saigon.
13. To implement the proposed legal code re-
forms, two training courses are being prepared, The
first is a training program for judges designed to
update their knowledge of trial procedures--includ-
ing appeals, evidence, and other court matters. The
second training course is designed to impart funda-
mental principles of justice to hamlet and village
officials scheduled to be elected in April, May, and
June. The preparation of this training course may
be an indication of the government's resolve to
hold the elections.,
Administrative Revisions
14. As part of a reshuffling of government
ministries and secretariats in the wake of General
Co's removal as defense minister and the abolition
of his job as deputy premier, the Secretariat of
Youth has been transferred from the war ministry
to the Ministry for Revolutionary Development, This
and other reshuffling, may facilitate better se-
lection of RD cadres as well as better planning
in both the revolutionary development and the re-
lated economic fields. Among the other recent
changes were the transfer of the Secretariat :f*-r
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Communications and Transportation to the Ministry
of Economy and Finance, and of the Secretariat for
War Veterans to the Ministry for Cultural and Social
Affairs. In addition, the nerve Ministry of National
Planning has absorbed the Directorate General of
Planning and the National Institute of Statistics.
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Retail prices in Saigon declined
three percent during the first week fol-
lowing the Tet holiday. The price of
rice, however, continued to increase.
Prices of imported commodities appear to
be leveling off at the'recent high levels,
Free market currency and gold prices,
which had been holding fairly steady for
the past several months, rose sharply on
21 February reportedly because of rumors
of a devaluation and a GVN wage increase.
The long-term outlook for the supply
of rice has greatly improved as a result
of GVN arrangements for the importation
of rice from the US and other countries.
At the present time, however, the rice
situation remains serious as stocks in
Saigon continue to decline and prices
soar. Moreover, deliveries from the delta
during the first half of February were
unusually low.
RMK-BRJ, the US construction con-
sortium in South Vietnam, is planning to
phase out several projects and dismiss
11,000 Vietnamese workers as well as
hundreds of US and third-country nationals.
The US Mission, in cooperation with RMK-
BRJ and the GVN, is implementing a series
of measures designed to cushion the im-
pace of this lay,-off.
A new agricultural development bank
has been established to replace the Na-
tional Agricultural Credit Office which
was set up in 1957 to extend loans to the
agricultural sector.
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1. Retail prices in Saigon, which rose sub-
stantially on 13 February--the first business day
following Tet, declined three percent during the
week ending 20 February. Both food and non-food
items shared in this recent decline. The increase
on 13 February was caused almost entirely by higher
pork prices as suppliers held off shipments wait-
ing for the suspension of price ceilings::on'_hogs.
Following the removal of these ceilings, arrivals
of hogs increased and pork prices fell significantly
during the week ending 20 February. Prices of
other meats also declined. The price of rice, on
the other hand, continues to rise. (See paragraphs
4-6). On 20 February the price of the type of
rice used by the working class reached another
new high of 22 piasters'-per kilogram compared with
17 piasters at the beginning of the year and 10
piasters a year ago. (A table of weekly retail
prices in Saigon is included in the Annex).
2. Prices of imported commodities appear
to be leveling off at their recent high levels. Ac-
cording to the USAID price index for selected US-
financed imports, prices of imported commodities
on 21 February were about one percent below the
peak reached during the first week of February.
Prices of condensed milk, flour, and sugar declined
as pre-Tet demand abated. Cement, on the other
hand, continued to rise because of diminished ar-
rivals. Chemical products also rose during the
week ending 21 February, whereas most other im-
ported goods held fairly steady.
Currency and Gold
3. Free market currency and gold prices,
which had been holding fairly steady for the past
several months, rose sharply on 21 February. Gold
rose 28 piasters above the previous week to 251
piasters per dollar, the highest rate since mid-
September. This increase reportedly stemmed from
rumors of a GVN wage increase and another devalua-
tion. MPC (scrip) jumped 11 piasters to 122
piasters per dollar--the highest rate since early
August. According to market rumors, this change
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in the MPC rate was caused by as yet unexplained
leaks in the control of currency exchange and PX
supplies. Although the price of dollars also rose,
the increase was much smaller---from 173 piasters
on 13 February to 178 piasters on 21 February.
(Graphics on monthly and weekly free market gold
and currency prices are presented in the Annex).
4. It now appears that the shortage of rice
expected during the third quarter of 1967 will be
prevented by GVN commercial purchases of rice and
by a special nony-concessional PL-480 transaction.
The GVN has reported that Thailand will provide
100,000 tons of rice in'.1967--30,000 tons in March
and 10,000 tons monthly during the remaining seven
months, No agreement has been reached, however,
on the price and terms of this purchase. In addi-
tion, the GVN reportedly will buy 20,000 tons of
rice from Taiwan with delivery scheduled at the
end of February. Negotiations are under way'for'-.the
purchase of at least 200,000 tons of PL-480 rice
with 100-percent US use of the piaster proceeds,
and the GVN has asked the US for an additional
100,000 tons on the same terms. Excluding this
latter 100,000 tons on which a final decision has
not yet been made, total rice available for im-
port in calendar year 1967 now totals 770,000 tons:.
150,000 tons carryover from FY 1966 PL-480, 300,000
tons normal PL-480 for FY 1967, 200,000 tons spe-
cial non-concessional PL-480, 100,000 tons from
Thailand,and 20,000 tons from Taiwan.
5. Although the long-term outlook is now
greatly impuoved, the immediate rice situation
remains Serious as prices continue to rise. Stocks
in Saigon were down to about 12,000 tons at mid-
February compared with stocks of about 90,000 tons
a year ago. Rice deliveries from the delta to
Saigon during the first half of February were un-
usually low even if allowance is made for the ef-
fect of the Tet holidays on rice shipments. Six
ships loaded with rice are now in Vietnamese waters,
however, and the arrival of this rice should;.pr.e-
vent a further deterioration in the rice situation.
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6, In early February the GVN Office of,
Supply began selling US rice at fourteen loca-
tions in Saigon at a price of 11,9 piasters per
kilogram, Although these sales were suspended
after Tet, they probably will be resumed as soon
as stocks are replenished? Meanwhile, the GVN
Ministry of Commerce is examining the possibility
of buying rice in the delta, Reports on the suc-
cess of a rice-buying delegation sent to the delta
on 15 February are conflicting, According to a
Saigon rice merchant, delta merchants will sell
only a small quantity to the GVN. The Ministry of
Commerce, on the other hand, maintains that large
quantities of rice are available for GVN purchase,
but he has admitted that there is some doubt with
regard to the price and the time at which merchants
may be willing to sell. Two ranking officials of
the Ministry of Commerce went to the delta on 17 Feb-
ruary on a mission connected with rice, but the
minister has been unwilling to disclose the exact
nature of this mission,
Labor Problems
7. RMK-BRJ, the American construction con-
sortium in South Vietnam, is planning to phase out
several projects prior to September with the result
that 11,000 Vietnamese workers and hundreds of US
and third-country nationals will be dismissed. Al-
though the majority of the workers initially re-
leased can be absorbed by local and US employers
in many areas, including Saigon, this sudden dis-
missal of workers could result in serious labor
problems in some provinces. As a result, RMK-BRJ
has agreed to cooperate with the US Mission in im-
plementing a series of measures designed to cushion
the impact of this reduction in the work force.
Among these measures are the release of workers
over as long a time as possible and the issuance
of termination notices giving considerable advance
warning and assistance to released workers in find-
ing new jobs. The US Mission also will attempt to
ensure that US employers will give preference in new
hiring to employees discharged by RMK-BRJ. In addi-
tion, US agencies have been instructed to make an
inventory of their future manpower needs to deter-
mine how these needs can be meshed with the RMK-BRJ
pool of surplus workers
111-4
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SECRET
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 Approved For Release 2006/1JqlI`DP79T00826A001700010011-4
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8. Attempts are being made to engage the
GVN in a parallel effort to alleviate possible
labor problems. The US labor attache has suggested
to officials of the GVN Ministry of Labor that the
GVN improve job mobility by making current security
clearances valid for new employment. In addition,
the GVN could assist by making greater use of local
employment committees to find new jobs and by in-
forming GVN ministries with personnel shortages of
the newly available manpower pool.
9. In an apparently unrelated development,
about 3,000 Vietnamese workers at an RMK-BRJ con-
struction site in Long Binh walked off the job on
21 February. Their main demands were for transporta-
tion to and from Saigon where most of the workers
reside and a change in night-shift hours for security
reasons. This strike was settled the following day
when RMK-BRJ representatives announced that, among
other things, workers would receive one and one-
half hours' extra pay in lieu of transportation to
and from work and an adjustment in the pay of night-
shift workers.
New Agricultural Development Bank
10. A new agricultural development bank has
been established to replace the National Agricul-
tural Credit Office (NACO) which was set up in 1957.
All personnel, equipment, assets and liabilities
of NACO have been transferred to the new bank, which
has an initial. capitalization of 200 million
piasters. This bank will carry out many of the
functions previously performed by NACO, such as the
extension of loans to cooperatives, farmers' as-
sociations and other bona fide agricultural organ-
izations as well as to individual farmers. During
1957-65 NACO had extended almost 5 billion piasters
in loans--primarily short-term loans to the agricul-
tural sector. In 1965, however, NACO's extension
of loans fell to an annual low of 152 million piasters,
partly as a result of increased insecurity in rural
areas. A joint USAID-GVN committee will meet shortly
to discuss all aspects of the new bank and to deter-
mine how it should be administered to serve the ag-
ricultural development of South Vietnam.
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SECRET
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 Approved For Release 2006/10/20 : I pP79T00826A001700010011-4
SEC
NWO NO FOREIGN DISSEM/BACKGROUND USE ONLY
Weekly Retail Prices in Saigon -/
13 June 16 Aug. 30 Jan. 6 Feb. 13 Feb. 20 Feb.
1966 / 1966 b/ 1967 1967 1967 1967
a. Data are from USAID sources. For all indexes 1 January = 100-
b. Price levels just prior to and two months after the 18 June devaluation.
c. Preliminary.
211
254
259
276
261
Index for All Items 173
0
216
281
283
311
c/
299
Index for Food Items 19
Of Which:
(In Piasters)
Rice-Soc Nau (100 kg)
1,250
1,450
2,100
2,150
2,100
2,200
0
1
Pork Bellies (1 kg.) 90
100
150
150
250
0
1
7
170
Fish-Ca Tre (1 kg.) 130
170
180
180
9
20
120
Nuoc Warn (jar) 70
85
120
120
1
40
190
204
212
210
c/
208 c/
Index for Non-Food Items 1
Of Which:
(In Piasters)
Charcoal (60 kg.) 460 600
680
700
680
14
660
14
Cigarettes (pack) 10 14
37
14
31
14
30
30
30
White Calico (meter) 27
2
2 5
Electricity (kwh) 4.2
N.A.
5.2
5.2
.
5.
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 Approved For Release 2006/10/20: CIA-RDP79T00826AO01700010011-4
NOW
Saigon, Free Market Gold and Currency Prices
174
GOLD: Basis gold leaf worth $35 per troy ounce
US $10 GREEN
US $10 MPC Military Payment Certificates (scrip).
122
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*ftplo *00
Secret
Secret
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