MONEY MARKET.

Taranaki Daily News, 16 April 1921, Page 11

MONEY MARKET.

Says the New Zealand Trade Review: —We are now at the bank balancing time, and consequently bank accounts are being nursed and watched carefully. The bank returns for the quarter will be available in about ten days, and they may be expected to show a short supply of funde. The excess of deposits over advances for the September quarter was £14,113,886, and for the December quarter this excess had dropped to £2,338,596. As importation has kept steadily in excess of expoi*tation for some months past we may expect to see a further movement in this direction, quite probably to the extent that advances will >be in excess of deposits. Imports -for the months of January and February totalled £10,993,842, and exports £8,630,552, leaving an excess of imports of £2,363,290. During the coming quarter we expect to see considerable improvement in these figures, as importation is being severely curtailed, while exports will increase as long as there is enough shipping available for their removal. There are heavy stocks of wool, meat and cheese awaiting removal. The markets for our main products are not very favorable at present, and reduced returns must be expected. It will take some time for matters to right themselves, and while we are experiencing a period of financial tightness and quietness in trade, we think it will not be very long before some improvement will be noticeable, and conditions will steadily return to normal. Owing to the present state of affairs the Government recently extended the moratorium to apply to money on deposit at call. This was no doubt merely a temporary expedient to prevent embarrassment in some quarters, and will probably not be us of except where absolutely necessary, and it should not be required for very long.