Prospects For N.Z. Economy ‘Bleak’

Press, Volume CIX, Issue 32298, 16 May 1970, Page 44

Prospects For N.Z. Economy ‘Bleak’

(New Zealand Press Association) AUCKLAND, May 15. New Zealand had clearly over-spent and under-earned, and the prospects of an improvement in the economy were bleak, and would even be bleaker if the country lost the British market when that country joined the Common Market, Dr M. Lloyd-Prichard, associate-professor of economic history at the University of Auckland, said today.

| She told the Rotary Youth] Leadership conference that the problem of how the country could earn more was a complex one. “Provocatively, it may be said that too many people are employed unproductively, being paid too much for skills they do not possess,” she said. “The economy could be improved if industries were granted protection, on condition that they contributed to exporting.” She said new large-scale industries were needed, as were cheap water power and natural gas for production. More processing of raw commodities was also necessary. Better educational facilities were required and universities 'should be deliberately linked with industry. The link now was weak. More graduates in engineering were needed, as well as a more practical approach in teaching in departments of economics, English and other languages. Higher pay might keep more graduates in New Zealand. She said a more vigorous drive for tourists was badly needed, along with a more sensible and realistic attitude on the part of New Zealanders. Greater attention should be paid to the improvement of transport, particularly in the

]air, and New Zealand needed to borrow not just to settle current account deficits, but for more fundamental purposes, she said.