THE Hauraki Plains Gazette With which is Incorporated THE OHINEMURI GAZETTE. MONDAY, WEDNESDAY, FRIDAY. “Public Service.” FRIDAY, MARCH 26, 1943 PRICES FOR PETROL

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume 52, Issue 3244, 26 March 1943, Page 4

THE Hauraki Plains Gazette With which is Incorporated THE OHINEMURI GAZETTE. MONDAY, WEDNESDAY, FRIDAY. “Public Service.” FRIDAY, MARCH 26, 1943 PRICES FOR PETROL

Reference made in the House of Representatives to the possibility of increases in the prices of petrol and oil will have served to remind the public of the Government’s undertaking in respect to the stabilisation of prices, costs and wages. When the wider scheme of stabilisation was introduced it was explained by the Minister of Supply that the Government did not intend that the prices of particular' commodities would necessarily remain unaltered, but that whenever it became necessary to authorise an increase in the I price of a necessity, an equivalent reduction would be made in other prices, thus maintaining the average price level unaltered. - It is true that this applies only to lines included in the stabilisation schedule; nevertheless petrol and oil are necessities, the prices of which have a very direct bearing on costs generally. The level of costs would immediately be altered, and stabilisation frustrated, if increases in petrol and oil prices were authorised without some compensating adjustment. How this could be arranged in an equitable way over the large and complicated field of trade and community service, in which the internal combustion engine is employed, is difficult to imagine. REPAYMENT OF DEBT The value of New Zealand’s produce export trade is strikingly illustrated by the statement by the acting-Minister of Finance, the Rt. Hon. P. Fraser, that a further £8,000,000 of New Zealand’s debt to Britain under the Memorandum of Security has been paid from surplus sterling funds. Of the total sum of £20,221,000 borrowed, £19,413,000 had been repaid up to December last, leaving only £BOB,OOO outstanding at that date. To a large extent the money borrowed was used for the maintenance of the New Zealand division in the Middle East theatre of war. Mr Fraser explained that the money was raised on practically an overdraft basis and repayments were made as and when sterling funds became available.

Notwithstanding these heavy payments, the return issued by the Reserve Bank of New Zealand last week indicated that a balance of £31,266,000 was still held in London by that bank alone. Usually the trading banks hold a sterling surplus comparable with that of the Reserve Bank, so that New Zealand has still a very large sum standing to its credit in foreign exchange. This illustrates how

necessary it is to preserve the asset of New Zealand export trade. Incidentally it emphasises how fortunate it has been that through the war so far the trade routes have been kept open by the Navy and Air Force. Reasonable prices for produce, an outstanding effort by producers to supply the war needs of Britain and other countries and the necessity of reducing imports have resulted in substantial trade balances in Britain which have been very welcome to the New Zealand Government.