DEFICIT OF ABOUT £700,000

Press, Volume LXX, Issue 21148, 26 April 1934, Page 10

DEFICIT OF ABOUT £700,000

j Budgetary Position Revealed MORE REVENUE RAILWAYS FINANCES | IMPROVE U'EXSS ASSOCIATION' 'rELKOKA-M.', AUCKLAND, April 25. A deficit of about £700,000, inj stead of the £ 2,000,000 originally j contemplated, was the result of the | budgetary operations for the year I ended on March 31 last, according to a statement made by the MinisJ ter for Finance, the Rt. Hon. J. G. Coates, to-night. Mr Coates said the transactions I for the year <had now been cleared I through the Treasury; but some | financial adjustments had still to be made and the accounts had yet to be audited. Subject to a;.y variation arising therefrom, the revenue for the year in round figures was £23,500,000, an increase of about £1,200,000 over the budget estimate. "Until the extras are completed and the accounts audited, it is not advisable to give the details," said Mr Coates; "but I may say that practically every item of taxation exceeded the estimate, while, as a result of improvement in the railways finances, considerably more was received by way oJ interest than was anticipated when the budget was prepared. Nevertheless, a large portion of the interest burden of the railways is still being met by the taxpayer." The expenditure for the year amounted to approximately £24,200,000. This showed a saving of more than £200,000, which was mostly made under annual votes, as a result of sustained efforts to achieve the utmost economy in every item of expenditure. "The net result is a deficit in the vicinity of £700,000, or about onethird of what was anticipated when the budget was brought down," continued Mr Coates. "Having regard to the economic conditions, this result can be regarded as very satisfactory. The buoyancy in revenue and the general improvement shown | give a fairly reliable indication that | economic conditions are improving, i and that, although progress may be somewhat slow in the meantime, we | arc definitely on the up grade." j