WAR FINANCE

Evening Post, Volume CXXXI, Issue 10, 13 January 1941, Page 9

WAR FINANCE

NATIONAL ■ SAVINGS

OVER 60,000 ACCOUNTS

The magnificent part being played by the people of \ Great Britain in the struggle against aggression has not been lost sight of during the Christmas period in this country, where, notwithstanding numerous holiday attractions, the need for adjusting our'ideas to wartime needs has "been well to. the fore. People of the Homeland have shown ability to fight aggress ion by making sacrifices and .contributing a large proportion of their weekly earnings to help finance the war. In New Zealand the national savings campaign was-launched in October last and the scheme was receiving increasing support prior to the holiday period. The" latest figures now to hand show that steady progress has been, continued throughout and in some cases has been phenomenal. In addition to £the? 50,000-odd national savings accounts opened prior to December 23, a further 10,000' new accounts have now been opened and the cash * returns i indicate that the Dominion's war finance continues to receive generous support. A'month ago the first £500,000 was announced,--and now the figure stands at £801,182. Of this, £457,100 has come from"the sale of national savings bonds and £344,082 is "invested in national savings accounts. When framing the "national savings scheme for New Zealand, the" decision to model it on similar lines to the already well-known Post~Office Savings Bank system has been amply justified. This is borne out by the fact that already, in the short space of three months since the scheme was launched, over. 60,000 people have opened national savings accounts. The alternative method for nati«ial savings in New Zealand as provided by national savings bonds, though it has up to the present provided the larger proportion of the cash receipts, has been availed of by a smaller number of people who have purchased 29,281 bonds. The aggregate of these savings for war purposes, though contributed in small sums, has provided already a valuable addition to the finance required for more and better equipment for the men who are making the greater sacrifices in the field.