New liquor prices still to be set

Press, 26 July 1977, Page 1

New liquor prices still to be set

The Canterbury branch of the Wholesale Wine and Spirit Merchants’ Association will meet in Christchurch this morning to discuss post-Budget liquor prices. The merchants’ new profit margin, Over and above extra customs and excise duty, could push up the price of a nip of spirits by 2c rather than the 1c increase quoted by the Minister of Finance (Mr Muldoon) last Thursday. The added excise duty alone will increase the price of a bottle of New Zealand-made whisky, gin, vodka, and other spirits by

22.5 c. The new customs tariff will mean a minimum 30c increase in the price of a bottle of imported whisky. Brewery spokesmen were reluctant yesterday to give any indication of the increased price of beer. They said that a decision would probably be made this week. One wholesaler said that the new prices for spirits could apply almost immediately in Canterbury as few companies had bought up their stock in customs bond before the Budget was announced. Few had thought that

there would be a price increase. Those that had predicted an increase had not considered the cost of buying up their stock in bond worth while. In Wellington, liquortrade sources said that increased charges for beer and spirits would probably not be applied until next Monday. They did not expect price-control approval to pass on the increase until later this week and it would probably be Monday before retail outlets were ready to put up their prices. (Earlier report. Page 25.)