OUR FINANCIAL POSITION

Taranaki Daily News, 11 June 1919, Page 4

OUR FINANCIAL POSITION

BIG DEBTS ■•AND BIG'-ASSETS.

NEW ZEALAND'S GREAT WEALTH*

By Telegraph.—Press Association.

Wellington, Last Night The Hon. A. M. Myers, Acting Minister of Finance, referring to the large addition tent he i ational debt accrued during the war, and to the corresponding increase in the annnal charges thereon, said the loans raised in New Zealand since August 1, 1914, amount to some / £55,000,000, whilst those raised in London during the skme period aggregate £20,000,000, thus making together an increase in the national debt during the war of some £81,000,000. The additional charge per annum by way of interest and sinking fund on such an increase in our indebtedness amounts approximately to £4,000,000. The war loans raised during the war total some £63,000,000, of which £43,000,000 were raised internally and £26,000,000 at home. The total rational debt was now roughly some ,£l7O per head of our population.

Taking a very conservative estimate, our national wealth amounts to some £4OO per head, and the national income to over £55 per head, and with deposits in the banks of about £72 per head of population, there is no question as to our ability to meet our war obligations if all classes of the community will unite in preserving the stable economic conditions. As regards the fiavingg of the people of this country, a comparison of the returns published by the various post office savings banks throughout the world discloses the fact that New Zealand is an easy first in this respect, with total deposits of £3O per head of population in the post office savings bank alone. The corresponding figures for Australia and United Kingdom are £23 4s and £5 7s respectively. The deposits in all urines banks in this country have increased from £19,000,000 in 1914 to £33,000,000 in 1918. It must be understood, of course, that the above figures are given in round suing for convenience of comparison.