TRADE AND MONEY.

Auckland Star, Volume XLVII, Issue 51, 29 February 1916, Page 7

TRADE AND MONEY.

in commenting on the state of the local money market, the "Trade Review" says that any change during the pas* month has only been in the direction of further increment to the already plentiful supply of funds held by the banks. "Our exports for the year 1915 showed an excess over imports of £10,112,102, and for the December quarter the banks had an excess of deposits over advances of £5,112,462, which is (says the "Review") an exceptionally high figure for this time of the year. For the month of January our exports were more than double our imports, the excess being £2,4-18,109. Uuring the current quarter returns from the realisation of the seaeon's produce will be flowing in freely, and it is highly probable that the banking returns for the quarter will show a record excess of deposits. In all probability also the excess of exports will be fully maintained* if not further increased. There is no doubt that importation has been much restricted recently, but owing to the greatly increased cost of the majority of commodities the total value of our imports very nearly maintains the level of the last two or three years. Keturns published by the Government Statistician show that during 1915 the Government opened up 1,306,958 acres of land for settlement, and the actual selections were in excess of that figure. It is very gratifying to see so much land taken up, and this should have a material effect on the production of the country in the near future, thus assisting to increase our general prosperity," _