NEW ZEALAND’S FINANCES

Sun (Auckland), Volume IV, Issue 955, 24 April 1930, Page 1

NEW ZEALAND’S FINANCES

SURPLUS OF £150,000 INDICATED SIR JOSEPH WARD ISSUES STATEMENT UNEMPLOYMENT AND OTHER PROBLEMS Press Association ROTORUA, Today. SIR JOSEPH WARD today issued for publication his promised statement about the public finances of New Zealand, indicating’ a surplus of about £150,000 for the financial vear ended on March 31 last.

The Prime Minister reviews the United Administration’s handling of the public funds, and its treatment of various difficulties, notably unemployment, with which it has had to deal.

Sir Joseph’s statement reads as follows: — “I am now in a position to announce some preliminary figures o£ the results for the past financial year. The returns are not yet absolutely complete, and the accounts are all subject to audit, but the preliminary figures I have indicate that the year ended on March 31 last closed with a surplus of approximately £150,000. "Taking all the circumstances into account. I think it will be agreed that the position disclosed is a satisfactory ape. It will be remembered that on raking office the Government was unfortunate in falling heir to a deficit. The Government, however, did not hesitate to do its duty, and notwithstanding strenuous opposition in the House, prompt steps were taken to Remedy matters in this connection. ADDITIONAL TAXATION "When the Government’s taxation programmes were under discussion, it was maintained by the Opposition that they were entirely unnecessary, and a surplus of £1,000,000 or more was freely predicted in and out of Parliament. Now that the year is over, it will be seen that the additional taxation was, in fact, absolutely necessary. “A State, with its large resources, can bolster up an unhealthy position for a much longer period than is possible in the case of a private business, but the ultimate result must be the same in both cases. A Government's term of office depends in the long run on its management of the public finances, and solid progress cannot be made unless the State pays Its way. In any case, we as a country cannot afford to have a deficit very often, while we are dependent upon overseas investors to provide a large part of the capital for development purposes. “Putting on additional taxation is r.ever a popular thing to do, but the facts have proved that the Government was acting in the true interests of the Dominion in putting forward proposals last year to ensure a balanced Budget. "The revenue received during the year amounted to approximately £25,350,000, which is about £IBO,OOO in excess of the Budget estimate. CUSTOMS REVENUE “The Customs revenue exceeded expectations, and was nearly £508,000 In excess of the estimate. A substantial falling-off In the last few months of the financial year was anticipated, but it did not eventuate. “Income-tax exceeded the estimate by £130,000, and land-tax by about £IO,OOO. “Against these increases, the estimates of stamp and death duties failed to materialise to the extent of approximately £210,000. “Petrol-tax and other revenue earmarked for highways showed an increase of nearly £70,000 over the estimate, but this item, of course, is offset by an equivalent additional amount transferred to the highways account, or distributed to local authorities. “Then the writing off of £8,100,000 of railway capital, effected by the legislation passed last session, resulted in the interest receipts from the rail-

ways being £310,000 below the amount allowed for in the estimates. YEAR’S EXPENDITURE “In round figures, the expenditure amounted to £25,200,000, including f. 17,230,000 under payment appropriations, and £7,970,000 under annual votes. Under permanent appropriations is included the expenditure on interest and debt repayment, pensions, subsidies to hospital boards and to local bodies, and other permanent items payable under various Acts of Parliament. The debt charges, all told, absorbed £10,695,000, and other payments under Acts amounted to £6,535.000. Details of these payments are not available at present, but the expenditure will of course be fully analysed in the Budget. “The position in regard to the Departmental expenditure included in the annual x’Otes is very satisfactory. As stated in the Budget, the estimates for last year were most carefully overhauled before being finalised. Even so, a rigorous control over expenditure during the year resulted in savings under most of the votes, and these savings in the aggregate amounted to about £220,000. EXPORT VALUES DECLINE “Trade and banking having such a relatively large external trade, this Dominion is very much concerned with the state of trade in other countries, and particularly Great Britain, where the greater part of our exports are sold. Happenings in the realm of international finance, and the general economic conditions operating abroad, have in the last few months brought about a marked change in the economic position and the outlook of the Dominion. As a result of falling prices and delay in realisation, the value of our exports has declined considerably, and during the last financial year was hardly suflicient to pay for the year’s imports, which showed an increase of about £4,000,000. During the two previous financial years, however, there was an excess of exports amounting to approximately £22,500,000, so that over the longer period, the trade balance is satisfactory. SOUND FINANCIAL POSITION “The published banking figures for the March quarter of 1930 show an excess of deposits of £355,000, as compared with £5,985,000 for the same quarter of the previous year. This decline in the relative position was brought about by a slight fall in the volume of deposits and a considerable increase in advances. The change in the banking figures, of course, is largely the effect of the change in the trading figures. The rise in imports and advances, however, indicates increased activity in business. “The exceptional conditions ruling outside the Dominion have given rise to high rates of exchange, which rates are by no means a true indication of the present financial position of the Dominion. In fact the position is quite a sound one, and but for outside influences would Have been regarded as quite normal.’’ (Continued on Page 13.)