NATIONAL WORKS

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 69, Issue 263, 19 August 1949, Page 4

NATIONAL WORKS

Development Plans

INCREASED EXPENDITURE

(Special to “Guardian.”) WELLINGTON, This Day

The Minister of Finance, the Rt. I-lon. W. Nash, presented a Budget estimate last night of £35,208,000 for the national development programme in tlie coming year, an increase over last year of £8,544,000. Dealing with the programme, Mr Nash said: “The 1948 Appropriation Act authorised the raising of £32,000,000 to finance the National Development Programme for 1945-49. Less work than anticipated was carried out, so that the borrowing for the works portion was £20,724,000. Additional amounts totalling. £1,560,000, were raised and invented in the New Zealand National Airways Corporation (£GSS,OOO), the British Petroleum Company of New Zealand, Ltd. (£765,000), and the Linen Flax Corporation (£110,000), making the total borrowed for the year £28,284,000. “It is estimated that for ordinary purposes £35,265,000 will be required during the present year. Details are as follows, last/ year's expenditure being shown in parentheses: Housing £9,250,000 (£7,738,000); education building&, £2,250,000 (£1,629,000); electric supply, £6,350,000 (£5,000,000); highway-construction, £2,500,000 (£1,970,000); land settlement, £4,250,000 (£2,450,000); railways, improvements and additions, £2,990,000 (£1,746,000); State coalmines, £2,000,000 (£1,500,000); State forests, £1,250,000 (£813,000); telegraph extension, £2,500,000; Christmas Island phosphates, £125,000 (£1,375,000); ether works, £1,503,000 (£2,503,000). Total, £35,268,000 (£26,724,000). “An additional sum of £ SSI,OOO will be required from which to advance capital moneys to trading corpora, tions.

“The foregoing programme will be financed from proceeds of the current loan securities on sale to the public, together with departmental and other investment funds.

Hydro-Electricity

“To the extent that labour and materials are available, work is being accelerated on new power-stations on the Waikato, Clutha, and Cobb Rivers and at Lake Tekapo. Every endeavour is being made to have these new power-stations in operation as early as possible, and it is anticipated that the Tekapo and Maraetai schemes, will be be completed about the end of 1950 and 1951 respectively. Water-storage works are in progress at Lakes Pukaki •and Waikaremoana. Power-transmis-sion lines are being erected as required.

“The total capital invested by the State 'in electricity undertakings is over £46,000,000, and new projects under construction will double this figure. The year’s, estimate for capital expenditure is £6,350,000. Last year’s generation of 2,753 million units ‘exceeded that of the previous year by 241 million units, and compares with 1,319 million units 10 years ago.”

DOLLAR DIFFICULTIES Situation Summarised (Special to “Guardian”). WELLINGTON, This Day. The conference in London of Dominion Ministers to consider dollar difficulties was dealt with at some length by the Minister of Finance, the Rt. Hon. W. Nash, in the Budget last night.

Mr Nash summarised the dollar difficulties thus:

“The Government is satisfied that recessions' in trade cannot be avoided by purchasing less from any given country. The objective should be to sell more.

“Price adjustment can best be achieved by increasing efficiency rather than by curtailing costs by wage reductions.

“The permanent solution of the present problem can be achieved only by expanding demand and increasing multilateral international trade.

“Raising of loans in the surplus countries for productive purposes is the best method of overcoming the immediate difficulty. “Loans should be made available on reasonable terms to the buying countries by the surplus countries. “The Government has intensified inquiries as to the availability on reasonable terms and conditions of loans from Canada and the United States. “The immediate and long term solution is the expansion of production and of exports to Canada, to the United States, and to other dollar countries, and tile raising of loans to meet the present deficit between exports to and imports from those countries.”