DOMINION TRADE

Waikato Times, Volume 122, Issue 20507, 25 May 1938, Page 12

DOMINION TRADE

THE FINANCIAL YEAR

FIGURES ANALYSED i A special significance attaches to statistics illustrative of the state of business during the year ended March 31. since the financial year closes in that month, states the Abstract of \ Statistics. The financial year and the ! production year do not coincide, many j seasonal activities being still at peak points at the end of March, so that a complete evaluation of the economic situation is better made on a Juneyear basis. Generally speaking, economic indicators for the financial year just closed have been buoyant. Record levels have been established in sav-ings-bank deposits, motor vehicles licensed, and radio licenses, indicating a continuance of the prosperous conditions which have obtained for some time past. The circulation of bank notes has been constantly buoyant throughout the whole of the year, reaching new record levels consistently, when account is taken of seasonal factors. Building activity, particularly of dwellings, showed a substantial improvement during the year. On the other hand, some factors in the economic situation have not been entirely favourable; the set-back in wool prices, though not as serious as xvas anticipated early in the season, has resulted in a considerably lower xx-00l cheque than the record amount realised last year. Prices of other j classes of farm produce have been, on the whole, appreciably higher than in 1936-37. Cheque Transactions The seasonal peak in the volume of cheque transactions is usually reached in March. The March, 1938, fig- J ure is almost 7 per cent lower than that for March, 1937—probably largely due to the lower level of \x r ool prices. The lex-el of adx’ances with the trading banks xvas much higher at the end of the financial year than at the beginning, the average amount ; of outstanding advances in March be- , ing £54,752,994, as compared with ' £46,853,679 in March, 1937. Deposits are slightly lower than 12 , months ago, xvith the result that the : ratio of advances to deposits has risen from 69.21 per cent in March, 1937, to 81.57 per cent in March, 1938.

The farm-production season has been changeable. In the early part of the season dry conditions predominated ; but latterly there has been in general a superabundance of moisture, culminating in a severe economic loss in the recent Hawke’s Bay floods. Generally speaking, weather conditions in the dairying districts have been favourable in recent months and no shortage of winter fodder is anticipated. In Otago and Southland, however, dry conditions persisted for the greater part of the season, with a consequent reduction in milk yields in those districts. The average yield of the wheat crop will be practically the same as last year's yield per acre, when the yield was of average proportions. There was, however, a considerable decline in acreage, so that the total crop will probably fall short of 6,000,000 bushels (the smallest harvest for a decade), as compared with 7,200,000 bushels last year.