The Dominion THURSDAY, JULY 14, 1910. BANKING RETURNS.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 868, 14 July 1910, Page 4

The Dominion THURSDAY, JULY 14, 1910. BANKING RETURNS.

0 The Bank returns for the June quarter, while in most respects very satisfactory, go to confirm the statement made by the Chairman of the Bank of New Zealand at the annual meeting of shareholders, as to an abundance of loanable credit, coupled with a feeling of want of confidence. There is ap increase in the Government deposits, and the fixed and free deposits, while the advances and discounts arc substantially less than tbey were a year ago. The position is rendered somewhat difficult for the Banks, and they have been obliged to find an outlet for their funds outside of the Dominion. The liabilities and assets show this. The aggregates are as under: June, 1809. Juno, 1010. £ £ Liabilities 23,830,002 27,779,358 Assets .'. 2(1,912,215 25,025,370 In the June quarter of last year the assets exceeded thu liabilities by £3,106,213, while for the corresponding quarter this year the liabilities are in excess by ail,Bs:i,flS2. Taking the Banks separately, the assets and liabilities for the past quarter show as under: — Liabilities. Assets. x Bank. £ £ \o«- Zealand .... 14,097.520 11.452.051 I'liion 3,401,881 4,1]. r »,os!> VS. Wales 3,528,010 3,398,338 Australasia 2,172.530 3.233,903 National 3,918,805 3,720,025 27.779.358 25.925,370 Tho Bank of New Zealand, the Bank of New South A Vales. and the

National Bank have liabilities in excess of assets, and it is very probable that the money is held for investment in Loudon, where the call rates have ruled high for mine time. The deposits in the aggregate show an increase of £3,020,878, made up as under:-— June, 1909. Juno, 1910. luc. ■ £ £ £ Govt, deposits 1,1-12,038 2,."i:)3,450 I,n!)l,-I-I2 Free deposits 10,892,670 12,910,101 2,053,131 Fixed deposits ... 10.039.059 10,515,091 470,005 22,073,797 25,991,675 3,920,878 The Government deposits, it will he noted, are more than double what they were a year ago, while the free deposits or current aceuunt balances are nearly 20 per cent greater.^ The fixed deposits show a gain of £476,005, the figures of the several Banks being shown in the table appended : — June, 1909. Juno, 1910. Inc. Bank. £ £ £ New Zealand 4,907,309 5,270,388 309,077 Union 1,309,271 1,100,121 91,153 N.S. Wales... 1,078,731 1,701,157 22,720 Australasia 620,007 033,509 6,902 National ... 1,517,171 1,503,318 *13,853 10,039,039 10,515,094 470,005 'Decrease. The National Bank is the only one to show a shrinkage of fixed deposits. The aggregates of the deposits for the June quarter of five years compare as under: — June Quarter. £ 1906 9,5G7,273 1907 9,029,026 190S 9.722,002 1909 10,039,059 1910 10,515,094 Now wc come to the free deposits, which show the cnormouis gain of £2,053,431, and the position of each Bank is shown in the table appended:— June, 1909. June, 1910. Inc. Bank. £ £ £ N. Zealand 5,102,519 5,918.950 810,401 Union 1,530,181 1,897.581 301,397 N.S. Wales 1,375,562 1,628,281 252,719 Australasia 1,122,737 1,381,193 201,456 National ... 1,755,63S 2,117,096 301,458 ,-~~«" 10,892,070 12,910,101 2,053,431 All the Banks have made substantial gains, showing that in this respect the community generally is considerably better off than a year ago. Dealing now with the advances, wo find that there, is a shrinkage of £838,901, or about 5 per cent., compared with last year. Analysing the movements in the figures of each Bank, we get the following: — June, 1909. June, 1910. Dec. Bank. £ £ £ N. Zealand 0,053,181 6,147,700 503,481 Union 3,013,282 2,919,921 63,361 N.S. Wales 2,455,916 2,280,730 178,216 Australasia 2,522,117 2,117,977 101,470 National ... 2,427,273 2,439,900 *12,027 17,075,129 10,236,228 838,901 *Increase. Here again we find that the' National Bank has had a different experience to the other Banks.- The discounts totalled £1,U;c:>,340, as against £1,907,253 for the corresponding quarter of last year, a decrease of £267,913, in which all the Banks shared. Taking a scries of five years, the movements under this head are as follow:— June Quarter. £ 1900 2,031,632 1907 1,987,162 1908 2,27-1,811 1909 1,967,253 1910 1,099,340 The demands made on the Banks for advances and discounts during the past quarter were less than in the corresponding quarter of last year by £1,106,814, and yet the fixed and free deposits increased in the period by £2,529,436, so that the customers of the Banks have improved their position to the extent of £3,636,250. From one aspect this is satisfactory, but it is regrettable that this money should be allowed to accumulate in the Banks when there is so much room for developing the resources of the country. Another view of what may be called this investment stagnation is obtained by comparing the fixed and free deposits, combined with the advances and discounts The appended table discloses the figures for live years: — Excess Advances, of Juno. Deposits. Etc. Deposits. Quarter. £ £ £ 1906 20,599,931 1C,140,197 4,459.784 1907 21,812,905 18,020,514 3,822,151 1908 21,254,918 21,411,417 '-150,109 1909 20,931,759 19,042,382 1,889,377 1910 23,461,195 17,935,508 5,515,627 e Deficit. There was an excess of advances in 1908, the first occasion for many years when such a movement was recorded. The excess of deposits for 1910 is abnormal and unhealthy. The circulation exhibits an increase of £22,114, which is evidence of an improvement of domestic trade. The coin and bullion is also larger.' These two items for the June quarter of five years stand as under: — Coin June Circulation, and Bullion. Quarter. £ £ 1908 1,615,416 4,660,850 1907 1,091,328 4,755,807 1908 1,600,616 4,917,718 1909 1,023,670 4,956,114 1910 1,645,784 1,994,850 Taking the figures as a whole, they show clearly enough that there is plenty of idle money in New Zealand, and it is evident also that'the owners of this idle money prefer to hold it so, or at least to throw upon the Banks the onus of finding suitable temporary investments, and the Banks, unable to find such investments in New Zealand, arc seeking outlets in London. There is consolation, however, in Uie fact that as soon as confidence is fully restored there will be available plenty of capital for legitimate enterprises. .