New Zealand “Must Live Within Its Export Income”

Press, Volume XCVII, Issue 28480, 9 January 1958, Page 12

New Zealand “Must Live Within Its Export Income”

(New Zealand Preu Association)

WELLINGTON, January 8. “New Zealand will be faced with pressure on its available overseas exchange for a long time to come, especially now with falling prices for some ,of its exports. Just as a housewife must balance her weekly budget and endeavour to put a little aside for emergencies, so must a country live within its overseas income. Spend more than you earn, and in the long run a day of reckoning must arrive.” The president of the New Zealand Manufacturers’ Federation (Mr G. W. Lane) said this after members of the council of the federation had met the Minister of Industries and Commerce (Mr P. N. Holloway). “For these reasons the federation has consistently advocated the selective expenditure of overseas funds so that our earnings abroad are used to the greatest national advantage,” he said. “It has contended over the years that overseas exchange can best be conserved by the encouragement of New Zealand industries and the consequent expenditure of our funds on capital equipment and raw materials rather than finished goods. “Such a policy provides more goods from the overseas funds available and proves a long term investment for the nation. Moreover, these principles do not reduce our trading with the United Kingdom, but rather tend to change the emphasis from finished goods to machinery and raw materials.

“This policy is in line with developments in most other countries. In our trading we shall, of course, continue to buy from the United Kingdom and other reciprocal markets all that we can afford.” Mr Lane said it should be emphasised that the steps taken to control imports were for balance-of-payment reasons and not solely for protecting New Zealand industry. “Responsible Role” “By their very nature, the restrictions provide manufacturers with an increasingly important and responsible role,” he said. “Import replacement through increased production of New Zea-land-made goods has long been an objective of this federation. And there is no doubt that a large proportion of the types of consumer goods that have been imported in the last few years can be produced in existing factories on plant at present not fully used. “Collectively and individually, therefore, our manufacturers must step up production—by an increase in the rate of production, by a great all-round efficiency and by increased use through shift work and other means, of

existing plant and machinery,” Mr Lane said. “An examination of labour legislation and consultation with the Federation of Labour in this matter would be worth while.

“Then again, we as manufacturers must prevent bidding for labour and a spiralling of costs, which would increase inflationary pressure and make it difficult for both our primary and manufacturing industries to compete on world markets.

“We must maintain and progressively improve where necessary the quality, design, variety, and presentation of our products and improve still further our service to the consumer.” •

Applications For Licences (New Zealand Preu Association) WELLINGTON, January 8. Applications for 1958 licences under the general import licensing introduced by the Government have started to flow into the office of the Collector of Customs in Wellington. The main stream of requests, expected to aggregate some tens of thousands, will probably take a week or two to reach full flood.

On Monday the first 50 applications for licences were received. Yesterday there were 239, and in the first two hours this morning a further 150 were lodged.