SIXTEEN MILLIONS

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20001, 28 July 1939, Page 7

SIXTEEN MILLIONS

CONVERSION LOAN AIM FINANCES OF DOMINION APPLICATIONS INVITED ISSUE PRICE OF U)9 (Elec. Tel. Copyright—United Tress Assn.) (Reccl. July 27, 2 p.m.) LONDON, July 26. Applications have been invited for £16,000,000 -worth of New Zealand loan conversion, stock maturing in 1045. New Zealand- undertakes to provide for redemption from funds accruing from exports sufficient for instalments of £2,000,000 in 1940 and £3.500,000 in each of the four following years. The issue price is £99. The interest rate of the conversion loan is 31 per cent, payable on January 1 and July 1. Holders of the 1940 stock may exchange their holdings, receiving a cash payment of £1 per £IOO. The lists close on August 5. The City editor of the Daily Telegraph considers that the terms should ensure an adequate response from investors and financial institutions. The City editor of the Daily Mail says that the loan- settlement is proof of New Zealand's willingness to face facts and a vindication of the view that a financial crisis for the Dominion must at .this juncture be avoided. The City editor of the Chronicle says it is impossible to secure underwriting of the. loan, but arrangements may be made whereby full subscip;ion, either by conversion or cash, is assured. The Times, in a leading article, says: “The British Government, in putting .its hand in its pocket on behalf of New -Zealand to such on extent, cannot be reproached for lack of generosity. The Dominion must prove .its worthiness if future assistance is to be more easily forthcoming. There is no desire to interfere with the principles cf New Zealand, but it must be recognised that the Dominion cannot again saddle Britain with burdens of her own extravagances and must order her affairs accordingly.”