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FINANCE. 7. The Office has had considerable sums available for investment during the year under review, and there has been a steady demand for advances by way of loans both from private mortgagors and local authorities throughout New Zealand. During portions of the year the demand was so heavy that it became necessary to entertain applications subject to the condition that the loans, when granted, could be settled only as funds became available. Everything was done to meet the requirements of borrowers as far as possible, and there have been very few cases in which any delay has occurred in effecting settlement as soon as the deeds were ready. It is an exceedingly difficult matter to arrange investments in such a way as to absorb the funds as they become available for the purpose and at the same time provide for the ordinary requirements of the Office. The inflow of money varies very considerably, and it is impossible to gauge the outflow over a given period with any degree of certainty, as will be readily understood when thought is turned to the liabilities and requirements of estates and accounts representing £35,000,000. Investment in the Common Fund includes the undertaking to make the money available immediately it is required for its intended purpose. The administration of estates is being completed daily, and the money must be ready for the beneficiaries ; life tenants die, and the remaindermen must be paid at once ; minors come of age, and must be paid as soon as they attain their majority ; local bodies' sinking funds mature, and the debentures must be redeemed on due dates. These represent only a few of the demands constantly to be met, but they are sufficient to give an indication of the difficulties in forecasting the amount of money that will be available for investment from time to time. Sometimes it exceeds the anticipated amount and at others it falls below, but, generally speaking, the investments have followed closely upon the available funds. When large sums of money fall into the Office unexpectedly it is found that a considerable time elapses before they can be invested satisfactorily. Applications for loans must be obtained, valuations made, and securities completed before the money can be paid out, and while these necessary preliminaries are receiving attention, interest must be allowed by the Office on the funds held. In these circumstances it is not possible to allow mortgagors to repay their loans whenever they have funds available for the purpose ; to do so would mean that at a time when money was plentiful a serious loss of interest might result. Mortgagors borrow the money for a definite term when they need it, and it is not reasonable to expect repayment to be accepted by the Office at any time, irrespective of the financial conditions and the possibilities of immediate reinvestment. With the splendid returns from the sale of their wool-clips in the past season a number of mortgagors have desired to repay their loans to the Office, and where immediate reinvestment has been possible the money has been accepted without premium interest, but, for the reasons set out above, this has not always been possible. 8. The collection of interest on the Office investments has been very successful during the year —in fact, although the total value of the investments was more by £2,210,905 than it was at the commencement of the year, the amount of interest outstanding on the 31st March, 1925, was less than it has been since July, 1921. To a large extent this improvement is no doubt accountable to the excellent prices realized for the last season's wool-clip. 9. The investments made during the year totalled £3,180,533, made up as follows:— £ Government securities .. .. .. .. 50,551 Mortgages .. .. .. .. .. 1,880,978 Local bodies' debentures .. . . .. 791,287 Temporary deposits .. .. .. . . 450,500 Shares and debentures in private companies .. 7,217 £3,180,533

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