Evening Post. SATURDAY, JANUARY 19, 1901. THE BANK RETURNS.

Evening Post, Volume LXI, Issue 16, 19 January 1901, Page 4

Evening Post. SATURDAY, JANUARY 19, 1901. THE BANK RETURNS.

«. Advance copies of the quarterly bank returns for the past quarter have been kindly sent us by the several inspectors, enabling us to present the usual analysis. The figures continue to disclose a sound position, with movements tending to improve bankers' profits. The excess of assets over liabilities for the December quarter of three years is shown as under : — Dec., '98, Dec, '99. Dec, '00. £ £ £ Assets ... 17,367,47 L 17,365,715 17,752,328 Liabilities 15,018,519 15,713,333 16,822,525 Excess As. 2,348,952 1,652,382 923,803 The liabilities have increased in the past quarter, which is due to the expansion of the note circulation, and the growth of both fixed and free deposits including Government deposits. The free deposits exhibit an increase of £607,390, as compared with a year ago, and the fixed deposits an increase of £291,949. The free ' deposits have been steadily increasing for years, while the fixed deposits were contracting and remained practically stationaiy during the threo years 1897, 1898, and 1899. The movements, of the , fixed and free deposits (excluding Government deposits) for a series of years are disclosed in the table appended :—: — , Dee 31 "^ re ? Fixed Total Deposits. Deposits. Deposits.

The growth of the total deposits in seven years amounts to only £1,117,775, or about 8£ per cent. The position of each bank with respect to the free deposits is shown as under : —

Dealing next with the advances, we find that there was a substantial increase in the past quarter as compared with 1899. The tendency now is for greater demands to be made on the banks. The actual increase in the advances is £471,197, and was shared in by all the banks, the Bank of Australasia securing the larger portion relatively. The movement as exhibited by each bank is as under: —

For many years the discounts exhibited a steady contraction, which was maintained up to the first quarter of last year, but since then there has been an increase. Taking a series of years the discounts are as follows:— £ Dee. 31, 1893 2,336,528 „ 1894 1,990,087 „ 1895 1.758,498 „ 189ti 1,826.0-8 „ 1897 1,805,148 „ 189*8 1,731,364 1899 1.717,893 1900 1,819.608 It is difficult to assign any special reason for the expansion in the discounts, which as already stated has been the tendency during the past three quarters. It may be that the rise in commodities which affects nearly all classes of import merchandise is responsible ior the increased demand on bankers, while the legitimate expansion of trade may be another factor influencing the position. The position of each bank with respect to the discounts is as under : —

The excess of deposits over advances and discounts for the past quarter was £2,822,726, as disclosed in the following table:—

The Bank of Australasia lend 3 considerably more than it accepts on deposit, •while the Bank of New South Wales and the National Bank lend out the bulk of their deposits. The note circulation for the past quarter was considerably in excess of that of the corresponding quarter of previous year, but was slightly lower than in the June quarter of last year. The note circulation of each quarter for the past three years is shown in the table appended : — £ March, 1898 1,067,624 Juno, 1898 1,091.985 September, 1898 1,046,778 December, 1898 1,074,143 March. 1899 1,121,730 Jime, 1899 1,186,715 September, 1899 1,151.029 December, 1899 1,195,562 March, 1900 1,281,125 June, 1900 1,331,449 September, 1900 1.269.022 Dut-e-Jiber, 1900 1,317,700 The ratio of note circulation to the total of advances and discounts of each bank is interesting and is given below :—: — Advances Note Ratio of Bank. nnd Circula- Note Discounts. tion. Circulation.

Coin and bullion exhibit an increase of £166,055, as compared with the December quaitcr of 1899, the figures being £2.802,232, as against £2,636,177. In 1898 the amount stood ut £2,752,245. The proportion of coin and bullion to the

demand liabilities (not including Government deposits) is nearly 36 per cent., equ.il (o 7s 2d in the pound, which is satisfactory.

tf.Z. ... 4,001.188 713.599 Jnion ... 1 ,503 409 132.0(51 tf.S.W. .. 2.210,805 Mi,317 \nstvalasia 1.9C1,. r >44 H 8,019 National... 2,030,1-15 219,080 11,836,091 1,317,700 17*55 8-4-1 653 5-50 10 79 11-13

Advances ■ci^«-._ _« few Zealand 6.384,398 4,064,188 2,320,210 rnion ... 2,237,868 1,563.409 674,459 r.S.W. ... 2,467,483 2,210,805 256,678 .ustralasia 1,802,809 1,961,544 *658,735 rational ... 2,266,259 2,036,145 230,114 14,658,817 11,836,091 2,822,926 *Excoss of advances.

Bank. Dec, 99. Deo., 00 Increase rz 792,877 813,783 20,906 rnion 183,911 188.070 4,159 r.S. Wales ... 204,802 254,585 49,783 .ustralasia ... 281,186 297.826 16,610 rational ... 255,117 265,341 10,227 1,717,893 1.819,608 101,715

.Bank. r.z. diion r.s.w. ... .ustralasia rational ... Dec, '99. Deo., 'oo. £ ' £ 3,086,423 3.250,405 1,359,2(50 - 1,375,339 1.905,207 1,956,220 1.506,758 1,663,718 1,687,638 1,770,801 9,545,286 10,010.483 >. . I » Increase £ 1G3,952 16,079 51,013 156,900 83,163 471,197

.Bank Dec, '99. Deo., '00. J £ £ Sow Zealand... 2,579,192 2,947,722 Jnion 937,450 981,719 S.S. Wales ... 827,418 912,427 \ustialasia ... 639,266 657,529 National ... 922,664, 1,013,983 Increase £ 368,530 44.2GS 85,00'J 15.263 91,3111 5,905,990 6,513,380 607,39(

1893 189-1 1895 IB9G L 897 1898 1899 1900 3,838,17-1 9,702,808 13,541,042 3,98G,192 9,104,931 13.091,173 4,455,126 8,119,550 12,674,676 5,277,212 8,058,115 13,335,327 5,304,106 7.834.6' M. 13,138,750 5,403,083 7,822,321 13,227,404 5,905,990 7.853,488 13,759,478 6,513,380 8,145,437 14,058.817