Few Price Rises Forecast

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31760, 17 August 1968, Page 1

Few Price Rises Forecast

(N.Z. Press Association) AUCKLAND, Aug. 16. The price freeze will end at midnight tomorrow but manufacturers and retailers say there will be few immediate price increases.

Several women’s pricewatching groups will be on the alert for exorbitant increases. Four Industries and Commerce Department inspectors will also watch prices in Auckland. The district officer for the department (Mr D. Daly) said today that temporary inspectors would be appointed if necessary.

Representatives of trade associations ’do not expect many prices to rise after the freeze. They say that in many cases post-devaluation cost increases were built into prices before the freeze started two months ago, and that competition will keep prices down.

The president of the Auckland Manufacturers’ Association (Dr H. C. Holland) said that because the new wage order was limited it would probably not be a cause for price increases in itself. But it must be remembered that a number of industrial awards had recently been renegotiated and in most cases pay increases had been granted. This, coupled with the general wage order, could bring about a need for some adjustment over the next few months, he said. Food prices, where housewives are most watchful and competition is intense, seem particularly likely to remain steady. The secretary of the Auckland Master Grocers’ Association (Mr R. M. Barker) said he had been notified of very few proposed increases in price. Mr Barker is also secretary of the Auckland Retailers’ Association, and in that capacity he has heard of no proposed rises. Representatives of the Cam-1

paign Against Rising Prices, the Auckland Combined Housewives’ Association and the Union of New Zealand Women made representations about prices at a meeting with Mr Daly today. They made a last-minute plea to the Government to hold the price freeze. Speaking for the delegation afterwards, the secretary of C.A.R.P. (Mrs E. Ayo) said that Mr Daly promised to convey their request immediately to the Minister of Industries and Commerce (Mr Marshall). Mrs Ayo said members of the delegation wanted the freeze continued until the Price Tribunal could assess fair prices for essential goods, particularly food and children’s clothing. Dearer Meat Retail meat prices will rise up to 5c a pound within the next week or so, according to Auckland butchers, because of a shortage of livestock.

The president of the Master Butchers’ Association (Mi

G. Holborow) said some increase was inevitable. Cattle prices had risen from aboul $l2O a head of about 6501 b to between $l5O and $l6O. This meant that about 5c per lb live, but butchers only sold about two-thirds of what they bought: the rest was not edible.

Buyers from the South Island were entering areas which traditionally supplied Auckland and this was accentuating the shortage. 72 Irregularities

The Department of Industries and Commerce found 72 irregular price rises during the freeze, says a report from Wellington. The increases were mainly in groceries, but included such items as books and parking meters. A department spokesman said today that the increases were minor and there had been no prosecutions. Most increases had been committed through misunderstanding and when approached, the shopkeepers had reverted to the old price immediately.