N.L FINANCES SATISFACTORY LAST QUARTER

Grey River Argus, 6 September 1948, Page 4

N.L FINANCES SATISFACTORY LAST QUARTER

Revenue Well Maintained P.A. WELLINGTON, Sept. 5. “The general financial position of New Zealand, as revealed by the .Public Accounts for the quarter ending June 30 is satisfactory”, said the Minister of Finance, Rt. Hon. W. Nash, to-night. “The revenue has been well maintained, while the expenditure is generally comparable with that for the same period of the previous year”. ‘‘The following table shows that both the revenue and expenditure of the Consolidated Fund are, in general, . fairly closely aligned to the comparable figures for 1947-48”, said Mr Nash. In the following comparison, the figure for the three months . ended June 30, 1948, is given first in each instance, and is followed by that for the three months ended June 30, 1947:— CONSOLIDATED FUND RECEIPTS Taxation: Customs £4,881,000 (£4,810,000; beer duty £1,028,000 (£279,000); £2,976,000 (2,754,000); film hire tax £19,000 (£24,000); highways £643,000 (£797,000); stamp and death duties £2,275,000 (£2,030,000); land tax £52,000 (£29,000); income tax £9,813,000 (£8,885,000); national security nil (£738,000); miscellaneous £29,000 (£17,000); total taxation £21,716,000 (£20,963,000). Interest £990,000 (£1,090,000); profits from trading undertakings. £865,000 (£583,000); Departmental receipts £857,000 (£1,036,000). Total revenue: £24,428,000 (£23,672,000. CONSOLIDATED FUND EXPENDITURE Permanent appropriations: Debt services £3,730,000 (£4,798,000); other special Acts £1,374.000 (£722,000). Total permanent appropriations £5,104,000 (£5,520,000). Annual appropriations: Social services £7,406,000 (£6,498,000); armed services £746,000 (£658,000); stabilisation £656,000 (£2,200,000); other votes £4,050,00 (£2,999,000). Total annual appropriations £12,858,000 (£12,355,000). Mr Nash commented that the taxation revenue shows a small increase of £753,000. It is accounted for principally by an increase in income tax, due, as explained in the budget, to late payment of tax in the Wellington and Hamilton districts, through an unavoidable delay in sending out the demands. Other taxation headings showed the usual minor variations which occur from year to year. “The expenditure at £17,962,000 is practically the same as last year”, he said. “Permanent appropriations under the debt services are lower by about one million pounds, as it was not necessary to utilise any part of the annual contribution for debt redemption during the first quarter. Contributions to the Government Superannuation Fund, which previously were included in the Annual Appropriations, are now paid as permanent appropriation, and these account for an apparent increase in other permanent appropriations. Under the annual appropriations, the expenditure on social services shows an increase of £908,000. This is chiefly through the Government accepting responsibility for an increased amount in resnect of hospital board subsidies. “The expenditure from the vote for stabilisation is substantially lower than for the same period last year, due to the fact that a number of subsidy payments have not been brought to account. An increase of just over one million under other votes includes the highways maintenance vote, which, at this stage last year, had not been transferred to the Consolidated Fund of primary and secondary industries ‘of £300,000, principally lands and survey, and agriculture’.” SOCIAL SECURITY Following is a summary of the Social Security Fund for the quarter, the 1948 figures being given first:— Receipts £3OOO (£5000); transfer from Consolidated Fund £3,000,000 (£3,000,000); totals £10,2'88,000 (£B,418,000). Payments: Monetary benefits £3,367,000 (£2,740,000); family benefits £2,332,000 (£2,236,000); medical benefits £1,666,000 (£1,289,000); administration expenses and emergency benefits £204,000 (£138,000). Totals £7,569,000 (£6,403,000). Mr Nash said that, as expected, the revenue from the Social Security charge showed the substantial increase of £1,870,000 for the quarter, reflecting, to some extent, the effect of general wage increases. The expenditure had risen by about £1,100,000, due chiefly to an increase in monetary and medical benefits. Mr Nash added that no comment was necessary on the Wai’ Expenses Account where the expenditure for the quarter was principally for rehabilitation, amounting to £957,000.