FINANCIAL STATEMENT

Hokitika Guardian, 25 July 1925, Page 2

FINANCIAL STATEMENT

H’er Favour ol Cn\eminent. > WELLING lON, July 21. In the ( oniiniDee ol Supply, Gallon. Vi . Nosnortliy preselueO the Budget, ill ttie course ol which Instated : In preparing this statement I have cndeavoiired to reduce the volume of the Budget and coniine it to linanee as abetting the general accounts, ihe depart mental reports presented lo members, and in the la-i- two years t (jinnierela i hahmco-shools ol Beparlmcins and undertakings, render it unnecessary to duplicate- in the Budget matter' that ale amply covered in other papers. 'I lie course adopted should ensure a clearer and mure compact presentment of our finances. The total revenue received was 225.043,009. Alter deducting 2>83,00 / the estimated value oi concessions gianted during 11)21. the estimate was 227.1)71,(120. The amount actually received was thus 21)58.880 in excess ol the estimate, and when compared with the revenue for 1028-2-1. ot 227.01i11.8i0. shows an inercase ol £1.1*2,030. EXPENDITURE. q he year's expenditure was 227.399.200, being 28(17,271, less than the amount appropriated, hut 21,251,105 over the actual expenditure of 1028-2-1. The outcome for the year's finance again discloses a. substantial surplus oi revenue over expenditure, viz:— 2 Balance brought lorward. Ist April. 1025 4.954,714 Add surplus of revenue over expenditure 1,28-1,800 Add net miscellaneous receipts credited to Ordinary Revenue Account 1.12d,202,08fi Less transfers during the year to Public Works Fund 21.000,000, to Loans Redemptinnon Account 21,052,130, £2.052,130. Balance at 31st -March 1025, £4.150.800. In accordant-.' with section 22 ol the Appropriation Act, 1023. an alteration has been made in the form ol the public accounts as published. Formerly tjit* credits in aid and in reduction were deducted from the expenditure, and the net figures published. For 1021-25, however, the gross figures are shown on the expenditure side and t-!i( credits in aid and in reduction arc shown separalelv on the receipts side. TREASURY BILLS. Treasury hills in anticipation of r weiiuc amounting to 2550.000 were sold in London at 3\ per cent, discount at the end of April. 1021. PUBLIC WORKS FUND. The exuenditure on public works show ed a considerable increase over that for the year 1028-21, and amounted to 21.357.110 net. including 2225.000 transferred to Alain Highways .iccoimis. (’(instruction Fund. The nrmcip.nl headings of expenditure were railway-const ruction. lelegraphext uisioii. additions to open lines, and road' etc., in that order Receipts 5.1 70.2-1!) j Expenditure -5. 00!), ''10 Ikilaiii e as at 81 si March. 1025 2:170.-180 I propose to :isk fur authority lo transfer up to 21.000.000 this year: the act mi I amount available will be determined as requirements demand and conditions permit. Expenditure in connection with development of hydro-electric '(hemes totalled 2817.175, or an in icn-e nl 281,503 on the expenditure nl the previous year, which amounted tn £>l2.075. Kill I particulars with regard to works which arc nlrcndv icvomto-pro-(lueing and those under eoii'truction will he submitted later by my colleague: the Hon. Minister of Public Works. .MAIN HIGHWAYS ACCOFNT. The balance in tile account on the I't April, 102 I. amounted to 210.5'] During the year additional sums were provided totalling 150.150 Total 2708.831 The expenditure was 2708.831 The not expenditure out of the Construction Fund amounted to 2225,--151. The number of new arrivals under the immigration policy during the financial year ended 31st .March, 1025. shows an increase of 30.7 per cent, over the figures for the previous year.

Including the tire-tax credited diieet to Main Highways Account, the total Customs revenue for the past financial year £7.680.192) showed the substantia) surplus of £327.409 over the collections for the previous year.

These results are due to the general buoyancy of trade in the Dominion and to the satisfactory average prices our products have realized.

The principal items of export in 1021-25 wore:—- £ Dairy-produce (butter 212,058,255; cheese .25,151,580) 18,224,845 Wool 17.379,249 Aleut 9,585,135 Shins and hides 15,317,491 The excess ot exports over imports i, less than for any of the three preceding years, and this movement may he followed in some degree by a relative falling off of imports. Beer duty collected during the past financial year, which was estimated at 2080.000. amounted to 2650.384, an increase of C 15.290 over the preceding yea r. Land and income tax net receipts for the pasi year amounted to £1,721,303—land tax. 21,335,2)1 ; income-tax, 23.3'0.<!52 and compared with the collection for the previous year showed a decrease of 2480.691. T'r.e land-tax reeeints compared witg those of 1932-21 show a decrease ol 291,211. The income-tax receipts compared with those of 1923-21 show a decrease of 2395.1>0. "The decrease in the income-tax is dm- to the increase in the percentage reduction from 20 per cent, to 33 1-3 per cent, provided bv the Land and Ui-<-(,1,10 Tax Annua!) Act. 1921. a compensating influence being an increase in : lie income ot laxpayers generally. The net revenue collected under the Siam), Duties. Death Duties, and Ar.n,'• iieuts-iax Acts was 28.240,382. RAILWAY'. The gross receipts from the "Working Railways amounted to 27,112,521, an increase ol £128.313 on the previous year’s figures. The working-expenses amounted to 25.545.416. The net- rc(jits wv:e therefore .21.507,108 which amount represents a return ot £3 11s ~u the capital cost. ’lhc Board estimates the revenue for the ensuing rear as 27.700.000. and the expenditure 26,200.000. The Rost and Telegraph receipts paid into the Consolidated bund tor the year amounted to £2.856,882. The principal items of leveune were: Postages, 2088.387: telegrams. .2404,707; toll messages, 234-1.393: and telephone exchange receipts, £8(57,218. The amount of income from postage is less than that which was obtained during the nrevioits year. The reduction was expected, as during the whole of tin- year the reduced rates of posing,. were operating, as against only six- months ioi the previous year. It is expected that ti volume of business will result in the postal revenue soon reaching the amount obtained in previous years. The expenditure Iron) Government sources on education services during

the past financial year was £3,549,870. DKPARTAI ENT OK HEALTH. The subsidies fo Hospital Boards under the 110-pilals and Chari table Institutions Act appropriated for 1924-25 totalled 257(1.090. the actual amount paid living 2501.708. It is estimated that an approormturn ot L'0,0.000. the same as last year, will he required lor the current year. The expenditure for pensions for tho year muled 31st .March, 1925, amounted to 22.40.3.01-L War pensions accounted for 21.212.182; old-age pen'bins. C'O I .909: widows’ pensions, 2235.959; others, 2120.504. Thesa figures include the sum ot 237,177 Irom national endowments on account of old-age pensions, and . 22.529 from gold duty in respect of millers’ pensions. Pensions (or the blind at the rate of Iss weekly plus subsidy.of 25 per cent, for personal earnings, were established by last session’s legislation, and up to tiie 31st March. 1925. 11l pensions under thi' head had been granted. I'D:so pensioners will also he entitled to ihe allowance ol 2s (id referred to in the preceding paragraph. ’The estimated rluirgu for 1925-25 for these pensi.ms is 210,000. There were 24,281 (nutributors to He National Provident, Fund at the Lit December, The contribution ilien me increased to 2150,972, whilst tho accumulated fund totalled £1,165,284. The funds under the throe schemes of superannuation for public employees as at the end of their last respective financial year were as follows: Public Service. 22,197,400; Railways, 2731.112, Teachers, 2942,755. The gross amounts received from the State during the year a moil tiled to £309,000, of which, however, £138,191 was recovered from reveime-earuing Departments. The total amount of bonus paid to annuitants whose allowance is less than 2100 per annum, and for widows and dependants, was 242,782, and it is proposed to continue the bonus to Ihe end of the current financial year. The allowance for widows and children wi.l he permanently provided for. NAVAL DEFENCE. The net expenditure out of vote •Naval Defence” lor tlie financial year .■tiding 31st .March, 1925, amounted to 22.-3,355, a decrease of 22,30/ in comparison with the previous year. Tne estimates for the current year have iivii trained with a view Lo continuing, ■is lar as possible, the policy embarked in hv the Dominion. 11..0.5. " Diomede” has bene select'd as the second cruiser for the New Zea In ml Division; it is expected that die will commission in Uctober, and reach the Dominion liv the end uf 1925. The addition ol this vessel is responsible for the greater portion of the increase in the estimates. LAN D-SET I'LKM ENT. Ti.ere were 1.1109 holdings, comprising approximately a total area of i >2.(*9 acres, opened for selection in (921-25; 31,000 acres of Crown settlement. national-endowment lands, and reserves, subdivided into 750 sections, ' wen- selected on freehold and leasehold tcuuies, and 530 miscellaneous leases were also issued, comprising an area ot 1 1 7.000 acres. 'The balance of the Toviot sections were balloted for and disposed of, there being a keen demand lor this class of open sheep-country. At ti.e present time an area of about 480,000 acres of Crown, settlement, and national-endowment lands is open for selection. 2 a pi La I provided from all sources for lisrhargcd-soldicr settlements totals approximately 225.575,385. The Dominion Revaluation Hoard, appointed under the Discharged Soldiers Settlement Amendment Act, 1923, reductions total £2,280,800. Interest in Native land representing an area of 29.527 acres have been acquired by the Crown at a cost ol £58.779, increasing the area purchased ,-inre 1910 to 1.857.810 acres, at a cost of £3,277,355, In its year’s operations the De r part mem- sob! gum to the value of £15.300 and made purchases amounting to £ll,lOO. The State Forest Service has now completed five years a.s a ‘separate State Department. The. capital of the State- Advances Office at the 31st. March, 1925. amounted to £26 776.899; an addition of £1.593.374 hast year. The advances actually paid over numbered 4,533. and amounted to £5,2.38,880. A considerable sum has been provided during the year for repayment of mortgages, and since the month of Octolier. 1922. when it was decided to grant advances for this purpose, the loans granted numl'er 5.106, and amount in all to £<,.345,295. The Government is continuing tho policy of rendering all possible assistance t<i overcome tho shortage of houses. Funds held by eighty-four organisa-

tions as shown l>y the latest returns total £1,233,100. REPARATIONS.

The Gorman obligations under tlie Treaty of Versailles still stand, but tbe reparation paymcnlx are now regulated by the experts’ plan commonly known as the “Dawes Report.’’ Two instalments, amounting to £lO3009 Gs 3d, have recently been paid into the Public Account, and it is intended to apply these receipts to reduction of the war debt. PUBLIC DEBT. The gross public debt, at the 31st. March, 1923. was £227,814,0-17, as compared with £221,010.301 twelve months previously. Accrued jinking funds held amounted to £13,102,839. leaving the net debt at £211:331,803, as compared with £208.612,333 -the increase in the net debt thus being £3,709.173. Payments amounting to £1.831.930 have been made in 1921-23 in reaper tof £27.332.101 loans advanced by the Imperial Government and which were funded in terms of the agreement dated Olh. September. 1922. Last year’s Financial Statement referred to the purchase at a profitable discount of £230,000 New Zealand 4 per cent. Slock maturing 1929. A further £IOO.OOO wars subsequently obtained on advantageous terms, and tbe whole cancelled on the 31st. March. This reduction in ihe debt represents a saving in principal and interest of about £91.000. Death-duties stock- issued under the authority of the Mar Loans and Discharged Soldiers Settlement Acts amounted to £1,813.200. and to the 31st. March last such stock to the amount of £301,090 had been 1 resented in payment of duty.

The Government has now under consideration the adoption ol a new fucomo Tax Schedule, following the lines discussed by tbe Taxation Commission. The proposed new schedule would reduce the maximum rate to Is Oil Irom the present rate of Is 10 2-3 d in the pound and the minimum rate from 8d to 7d in the pound, while between these rates all incomes would receive concessions. The present schedule which still stands in the Act, at rates up to the nuivinium of 7s -Id in the pound and has been subject to per rentage reductions from time to time would be done away with bv tlie adoption of straight out rates, full details will be submitted later to Hon. members. ESTIMATES OF REVENUE—I 923-20. £ Customs 7.800,000 Beer duty 030,000 Stamp and death duties 3,3-10,800 Postal and telegraph ... 3,0-16,000 Land-tax 1 ,230.000 Income-tax 3,330,000 Railways 7.700.000 Registration and other fees 190.000 Marine 101.800 Interest on public looney 1.111!),000 Local Bodies’ Loans Act. 1908, section 70 ... 22.000 licuts of buildings ... 24.000 Tourist & Health Resorts 33,000 Miscellaneous 30,000 Territorial 212,000 Departmental and other receipts 031.100 Total ‘>9.000.000 EXPENDITURE. The expenditure as submitted in the estimates presented with this Statement totals £29.021.616. This is £738,113 more than the amount appropriated last year. The estimated result therefore, is:

£ Revenue 29,000.000 Expenditure 29.021.010 The difference. £373.381. will be required to provide for supplementary estimates and for taxation reductions and concessions now under consideration. Estimated credit balance on 31st. March. 1920 £3,131.190 ESTIMATES AND PROPOSALS 1923-26. Consolidated Fund Ordinary Revenue Account: £ Estimated revenue ... 29,(M0,000 Estimated expenditure 29,021,010 Available for supplementary estimates and taxation reductions and concessions ele. £373.381 (Estimated Customs revenue ... 7.800.000 Estimated stamp ana death duties 3,310.800 Estimated land and income tax 1.000.000

Transfer from surplus revenue to Public Works Fund, up to ... 1,000,000 Ismdon loan. ]0215-20 for public works and Slate advances 7,000,000 T-.ifc-insurnW’O policies up to £I,OOO to be exempt from death duties. ■Reduced use of revenue for capital purposes. Provision for progress of develop mental operations. Proposed changes in preferential Customs conditions. Provision for school buildings. Extension of allowance of 2s fid per week as an addition to the old-age pension of los per week and also to pensions for tho blind. Continuation of cost-of-loving bonus to annuitants. Additional naval expenditure for seeond eruiser. Introduction of competitive schemes in connection with the planning of model suburbs. Proposed measures, against laud aggregation. Ueadvances for more fully developing of soldier farms. Review by Dominion Board of current account advances to discharged soldiers. Fostering of programme of reclamation of waste lands. Encouragement of system of table mortgages. Empowering legislation governing the lending rates of the State Advances Office. Legislation providing for tho closing of War Expenses Account and transfer of remaining liabilities to Consolidated Fund. Deduction of limit of expenditure out of “Unauthorised " Cancellation of local bodies' uuoxpired loan authorities in respect of completed works. Further reductions in taxation. Proposed adoption of straight-out schedule and reduction of income-tax to a parity with dehenture-tax. Repeal of mortgage duty. t Improved measures for repaying public debt.