BRITAIN’S SAVINGS

Greymouth Evening Star, 6 March 1943, Page 5

BRITAIN’S SAVINGS

“WINGS FOR VICTORY”

RUGBY, March 5

The Chancellor of the Exchequer (Sir C. K. Wood), opening at the Mansion House London s campaign for raising £150,000,000 in the “Wings for Victory” savings drive, said that some twelve and a-half thousand millions had already been spent directly on the war, and the cost was still rising. War expenditure was now over/fourteen millions a day. Announcing that five thousand millions had been raised in war savings since the beginning of the war, he said that Britain must depend largely on “the less than £5OO-a-year man,” in whose hands was 80 per cent.' of the total net purchasingpower. The far-reaching part of Britain’s financial war policy had been the system of post-war credits, which were now' nearly £300,000,000 for two years. This was spread among twelve million taxpayers, mainly small men. In addition, some sixteen million small savers had nearly nineteen hundred millions in the post office and trustee savings banks and savings certificates. This saving would prove a strong, stabilising factor after the war. “We have obviously formidable financial problems to face, but not one that should dismay us,” he said. “For the current financial year war expenditure has reached forty-four hundred millions.” He added that taxation provided about nine shillings in the pound and other sources one shilling, so that ten shillings, or half the total expenditure had to be borrowed.