PUBLIC ACCOUNTS

Waikato Times, Volume 125, Issue 20958, 10 November 1939, Page 4

PUBLIC ACCOUNTS

Though he regards the budgetary position as very satisfactory to date, Mr Nash in discussing the public accounts for the first six months of the financial year is cautious regarding the remainder of the year. It is indeed remarkable how well the people of the Dominion are meeting the extraordinary demands made upon them. The revenue returns are a striking revelation of the elasticity of the public purse, and it is a pity that expenditure is maintained at such a high figure, so that the prospects of relief later are not what they might be. It is evident that if extravagant expenditure were avoided the Dominion would have the resilience to make a rapid financial recovery. When the country at ordinary times is spending to the limit of its taxable capacity it is not in a condition to meet a sudden emergency such as the outbreak of war or a “slump.” It is prudent always to have reserves available, even if those reserves are only unexploited fields of taxation. In the first half of the year Mr Nash has collected nearly a million and a-half pounds more revenue than in the corresponding period of the previous year, and the expenditure was greater by £964,000. While some of the new taxation does not take effect until later in the year, substantial decreases in revenue from some quarters may be expected, notably customs duties and petrol taxation, so that with these items still uncertain Mr Nash prefers to temper his optimism with caution. In spite of the restrictions on imports, customs revenue has been maintained to an unexpected extent. The restrictions are now beginning to be felt, however, and in the second half of the year a marked decline may be expected. The budgetary position for the whole year, nevertheless, should on paper be fairly satisfactory. It is in the following year that greater difficulties may be expected, unless in the meantime production for export comes to the rescue with a substantial expansion. Individual Budgets do not, of course, always accurately indicate the trend of events, and it may be that financial transactions in connection with loans and “credits” will have only a slow cumulative effect on the annual Budget.