PUBLIC ACCOUNTS

Evening Post, Volume CXXIII, Issue 46, 24 February 1937, Page 17

PUBLIC ACCOUNTS

STATEMENT CORRECTED

An Australian newspaper's assertion that the New Zealand Public Accounts for the nine months ended. December 31, 1936, showed a deficit of £2,500,000 was the subject of a statement by the Acting ■ Minister of Finance (the Rt. Hon. M. J. Savage) to the Christchurch "Press." . - , ■ • . •

"I consider the article in question to be misleading,-" said Mr.. Savage, "and I have,had the matter taken.-up with .the newspaper'concerned. .It is true, of ' .course, that' as •in previous years, the actual expenditure for the line months exceeds the revenue, but as a large proportion of the' taxation (income tax, for instance, is not payable until.February) does not come to hand until the latter part of the financial year, it is just as1, misleading to refer to the quarterly transactions as resulting in a 'deficit' as to refer to a man who has drawn only portion of his week's payas being insolvent

"The position, as disclosed by the accounts which were gazetted recently, is that the revenue" is more than £2,500,000 in excess of that received during the same period of the last financial year, and on a proportionate basis represents practically the same percentage to the estimate for the year as the nine months' receipts for 1935----36 did to the actual receipts for that year. On the other hand, the expenditure is more than £2,000,000 less than the proportionate part of this year's appropriations. As I pointed out when reviewing the accounts recently, present indications are entirely satisfactory, and, based on previous years' experience, I hsive every reason-to anticipate that the final figures for the year will disclose a satisfactory posi-. lion."