THE HALF MILLION LOAN.

Press, Volume LIII, Issue 9594, 8 December 1896, Page 5

THE HALF MILLION LOAN.

(PRESS ASSOCIATION TELEGRAM.) WELLINGTON, December 7. The following is an official communiqud respecting the half million loan, offers for which closed at noon to-day :—" Tenders for the half million 3£ per cent. 10-25 debenture.loan were opened this afternoon in the presence of a Committee,, consisting of the Colonial Treasurer, the Controller and Auditor-General and Mr Henry Kember, the well known accountant of Wellington. Ten tenders had been lodged at the Treasury, and upon being opened were found to aggregate the sum of £508,000, the average price being slightly over f 100. Considering that principal and interest are both payable in the colony, and that no real market exists for buying and selling securities such as these, the Government are to be congratulated on the successful flotation of this loan, which marks a wise departure in the effort to retain interest within our own borders, and so save the drain which ia always going on in having to remit our interest to English investors. It is a great many years since a Government loan was locally floated, and the price of the issue then (in 1873) for £250,000 vras £90 10a for a 4 per cent, loan; £40,900 -was tendered for about £30,000, being 10£ per cent, below the minimum, and only £300 was allotted. The present successful result is, therefore, very flattering to the Government, and we have the assurance that no amount of the issue has been allotted to the Government lending department. The money will come from the public as bona /{& investors."