FINANCIAL FRONT

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume 77, 1 September 1942, Page 4

FINANCIAL FRONT

FIRM AND STRONG CONTRIBUTION TO WAR EFFORT SPEECH BY TIIE CHANCELLOR Rugby, Aug. 30 Britain's financial front stand> j firm and strong and has made a i vital contribution to the war effort, said Sir Kingsley Wood. Chancellor of the Exchequer, in a speech at j Dundee. This front, he emphasised, was based on the heaviest pcs.sible taxation and borrowing at iow interest rates and the utmost saving. Small savings since the beginning of the war amounted to £1,500,000.000.1. I The Budget of 1941 had increased by 4,000.000 the number of persons on smaller incomes liable for direct laxa- J lion, and there were to day some 9,500.000 wage earners and others with j small incomes who were making a di j root contribution to the war of some £270.000.000 a year through income | tax. The weight of taxation to-day. lie i ' said, was such that if we were to take j ! away every penny of income above j ! £2.090 from those whose incomes a' ] ! present exceeded £2OOO a year the j j gain to the Exchequer would only be about £30,000.000. It was estimated ; that the number with incomes between i £IOOO and £2OOO had fallen since 3933 j from 155.000 to 105,000. those between ! £2OOO and £4OOO from 56.000 to 30.750. j those between £4OOO and £6OOO from j 12.000 to 1170, and those with £6OOO or j more to 80. The Chancellor also mentioned that J during the last war the rate of interest j on war loans increased from 5 to 6 per j cent., but in this war we had not paid ] more than 3 per cent., and successive issues had been made on even more | favourable terms to thi Treasury than ; its predecessors.—B.O.W.