NIEMEYER REPORT

Dominion, Volume 24, Issue 188, 7 May 1931, Page 11

NIEMEYER REPORT

Bankers Reserve Opinion

NEED FOR DISCUSSION None of the banking authorities consulted yesterday by a representative of “The Dominion” was prepared to express any opinion regarding the announcement that the report of Sir Otto Niemeyer on the banking, currency and exchange problems of New Zealand included a proposal for the establishment of a central bank. All were agreed that it was not possible for them to discuss the proposal until the report as a whole was available. Beyond the fact that he recommended the creation of a central bank nothing was known regarding the general tenor of Sir Otto Niemeyer’s report, or what other proposals he had submitted to meet the conditions obtaining in New Zealand. Remarking that the present economic position in New Zealand was unprecedently serious, the head of one banking institution remarked that the sooner the report was made public and available for discussion the better it would be for the country. He' agreed with the view expressed by another, banker that present conditions, particularly in regard to the exchange and other problems, were such that it would be extremely difficult, if not impossible, to establish a central bank until the position became more normal. Doubtless Sir Otto Niemeyer was fully acquainted with the position, and had dealt comprehensively with the peculiar difficulties and problems with which the Dominion was faced. It was, therefore, reasonable to assume that his report prescribed certain measures that would be antecedent to the setting-up of a central bank. Briefly, his report would be cast on a comprehensive basis as a guide to the Dominion in its difficulties, and it was therefore essential that it should be made available quickly , so that the fullest and most impartial study e<"’ld be given to matters that were of vital importance to the welfare of the Dominion. Until that was done it was not possible for bankers or anyone else to express any opinion regarding the central bank proposal.