Investment In N.Z. Restrained

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31343, 13 April 1967, Page 13

Investment In N.Z. Restrained

(N.Z. Press Association— Copyright) LONDON, April 12. The Chancellor of the Exchequer, Mr James Callaghan, in his Budget put a stranglehold on private investment overseas for another year.

The restriction made in a “voluntary” agreement with investors last year has cut drastically the amount of money available for investment in Australian and New Zealand. Mr Callaghan told the packed House of Commons he could make no relief in this restriction for at least another year. He quoted in aid of his argument the recent report by the Economics Department of Cambridge University that

selectivity was needed to get the best return on British overseas investment.

The Budget was a disappointment for those in Britain and overseas who hoped for a “blood transfusion” for Britain’s economy.

By the end of Mr Callaghan’s one-and-a-half-hour speech, members on both sides of the House were restless as they waited for some major announcement. It never came. The Chancellor’s final sum-ming-up was greeted by jeers from the Conservative benches.

The House was noisy as he shouted above them “we are bang on course.

“This ship is picking up speed. The economy is moving ahead. “As every seaman knows the command for such a time is ‘steady as she goes’”.