Panic Moves Avoided

Press, Volume CV, Issue 31003, 8 March 1966, Page 15

Panic Moves Avoided

(Neto Zealand Press Association) NEW PLYMOUTH, March 7. The Government was to be congratulated on avoiding panic measures when imposing the current monetary restrictions, the president of the Retailers’ Federation (Mr H. C. Harford), said at the federation’s annual conference.

The restrictions bore heavily on the retail trade and it was important that financial curbs by the authorities be handled with care, Mr Harford said. “The federation fully recognises the country’s balance of payments problem,” he said. In view of this the federation was not suggesting that the problem be aggravated by increasing expenditure on imports. It was not unmindful of some relaxations that had been granted for importing goods. “But within the framework of the total allocation it considered the retail trade was entitled to a fairer share of the import cake,” Mr Harford said. Although it appeared importa would rise by about £30,000,000 this year, the upsurge was in no way caused by the importing of finished consumer goods by retailers. There was a tendency on the

part of the public to blame increased imports on irresponsible importing by the retail trade.

“Such an assumption is quite incorrect because of the extremely tight control exercised by the Government,” he said. The federation was extremely perturbed at press reports that licences for consumer goods were likely to be further reduced. “With an increasing population and reducing - imports any further reduction would be detrimental to the public interest,” Mr Harford said. He paid tribute to the efforts of local manufacturers in producing goods which were previously purchased overseas, but said there was not sufficient variety of goods to justify the decrease in percentage of import. “Everything produced locally is not necessarily an acceptable substitute,” he said. The federation had no quarrel with the policy of protection for home-manufac-tured goods, but the public wanted more semblance Of choice.