FEWER GOODS FROM DOLLAR AREAS

Chronicle (Levin), 9 August 1947, Page 4

FEWER GOODS FROM DOLLAR AREAS

-Pvess Association •

By Telegravh-

WELL1N li'i'GN, August 8. A rediiction iq the liqeneeq; for gnods from dollar; arqas is shown in. t-hq impqrt ^qeqsing sichedule for 1948, cqpiest of which were •released last evening by the Minister of Customs (Mr. Nash). An exampie- of this is the item relatmg to motor-vehicies, licences fo'r which have been (Jeferred for impqrtations from countries other than the Unitqd Kingdom and other- British territories. The basis fo,r the granting qf . licences for imports into ,New Zeaiand during 1948 was also the. aubject oi .a statemeht. by the Minister. He sUicl that to the extent that the United. Kingdom was in a position to supply our requirements the ' policy *of obtaining, our needs from her to the maximum ivould be adhered to. The difficult exchange position in regard to some of the nonsterling currencies.made it necessary for care to he exercised in making provision for imports from non-sterling* areas, but it might be possible to review the. position in the light of ' developments. $ 1 It is stated that the schedule follows elosely the procedure adopted in earlier periods, exeept that witk sowe. classes, of goqds provision has been made tor imports where none existed previously. The Minister said that the present state of sterling funds in London must be regarded as satisfactory, but rc could not be said that the position would justify any considerable depar-. ture from the existing procedure. It was still necessary to provjde for a considerable expenditure for plant and. machinerv for replacement purposes and for the development of established in-. dustries, while the needs of industry in regards to raw materiqls and the requirements of certain serviees, such as transport, would involve large eommitments. ' X'-In these circumstances the situation still $alled for eonservation of overseas funds, with the result that care musx: be taken to ensure that the funds needed for our essential requirements were. not depleted by expenditure on nonessentials, the Minister added. The provision now being made should ensure that our essential requirements were covered, sub.ject to the goods be- • ing available from overseas. The Minister said that, where tne schedule fixed an alloeation in respect of any item in relation to the amounts of the licences issued tp. the applicant in, an earlier year for impor-ts of the same class of goods, the 1948 alloeation. would be based solqly on the 9.moy.nts of the licences issued in the earlier vear as basic alloeations. For the purpose of arriving at the 1948 alloeations special licences issued in the earlieryear in consideration of some special condition would not be ineluded. 0