FEW BAD DEBTS

Evening Post, Volume CIII, Issue 13, 17 January 1922, Page 7

FEW BAD DEBTS

REPATRIATION LOANS

EEPAYMENTS MADE,

According to a statement issued by the Minister-in-Charee of Repatriation (the Hon. D. H. Guthrie) the estimated possible future loss ,on account of bad and doubtful debts hi repatriation loans is £19,650, made up as follows :—Auckland, 64 loans for £4759; Wellington, 58 for £4395; Christchurch, 83 for £4790; Dunedin, 31 for £1045. The total number' of doubtful cases now being shepherded is 346, with an average debt of approximately £57. Tne total amount advanced is £1,775,000, and £860,000 has' been repaid. The loans fully repaid number 2667. District reports show that the arrears are mainly accounted for.by trade depression and unemployment. Auckland reports that are something like 200 borrowers for farming propositions who are in arrears, many of whom were expected to wipe out the deficiency of their accounts; before now. . Unemployment is given by 42 as their Teason for being in arrears, while illness in the family or under medical treatment is the reason given, by 60. Many of the accounts in arrears are quite good, being covered by ample security guarantees, or orders for payment. In Christchurch the arrears as a whole have been very slightly reduced this quarter, trade depression having made it extremely hard to show any .'appreciable improvement. Mo3t of the business arrears are safe, and a big reduction in these should be effected after the harvest. Unemployment, added to ordinary family difficulties, has made it impossible to obtain, regular repayments in a large number of cases. The chief reasons for the arrears in Wellington are unemployment, sickness, and the general tightness: of money. It is significant that many regular payers first stopped paying about April and May o£ 1921, when trade conditions first became bad. As a general rule, this board has required a loan of £300 to be paid off in three years, and the scale has been fairly well kept up. It is doubtful, however, if businesses can bo expected to make sufficient profits tc do this tor the future.