BRITISH BUDGET FORECAST: NEED FOR INCENTIVE

Greymouth Evening Star, 15 April 1947, Page 8

BRITISH BUDGET FORECAST: NEED FOR INCENTIVE

LONDON, April 14. Newspapers reviewing the Budget prospects agree that the Chancellor of the Exchequer. (Dr Hugh Dalton) will produce an “incentive Budget.” They forecast small reliefs in direct taxation and increases in indirect taxes. “It is now the turn of the Chancellor of the Exchequer in his Budget speech tomorrow, to give some incentive to the increased production needed to meet the situation revealed in the recent economic debate,” says the Parliamentary correspondent of The Times. Indirect, Taxes “Dr Dalton prides himself on having reduced taxation by £500,000,000, a year from its war-time peak, but it is still op a punitive scale. Dr Dalton has been overwhelmed with advice that there must be further relief from direct taxation as an incentive to effort and production, but even .if this advice is heeded there may be little or no reduction in the total weight of taxation, “The Chancellor, as a counterpoise to direct taxation reliefs, may find it necessary to increase indirect taxes., If so, his polic\ r will find much support.” The correspondent, emphasises that Dr Dalton’s last Budget camo at tho c-nd of a year of transition, but that this year’s Budget has been prepared after a clear 12 months of peace. Dr Dalton will meet other members of the Cabinet at Downing Street tomorrow morning to explain details of the Budget proposals. He will begin his Budget spoesh about 1.30 p.m. tomorrow and will speak for about 90 minutes. Sterling Balances The Financial Times, in a- special article discussing the sterling balances, says it is regrettable that the Chancellor of the Exchequer did not take steps immediately after hostilities ceased to inform Britain’s sterling creditors that Britain proposed to present counter-claims. <; For.two years,” it says, “The Government- has allowed these govern merits to live in a world'of illusion arid' believe that they had become, wealthy nations. It is not certain yet that Britain does in fact intend to make counter-claims, but in the belief that a recent statement made by Dr Dalton indicated that such action was proposed, the campaign in Britain advocating the preparation of claims was allowed to drop. It now appears that Dr Dalton’s somewhat informal statement has not been sufficient to convey his intentions. It is therefore necessary that he should use plainer language and clarify the position as soon as possible.” Disillusionment Required. The Financial Times suggests that tho forthcoming Budget statement will afford the Chancellor “a convenient opportunity to disillusion those who imagine they will squeeze full repayment, out of Britain. It is only fair to the creditor countries to make this fact, quite clear, instead of allowing misleading and dangerous impressions that Britain will make vast repayments to continue.” The article urges the Chancellor to make it plain that there is no question of a settlement of sterling balance debts until counter-claims are met, The Financial Times features alongside the article a statement made by the Egyptian Minister of Finance in a recent press interview in which he said that Egypt- would ask for all the British holdings in the Suez Canal Company and the Anglo-Egyptian oilfields as part of the settlement of Britain’s sterling debt to, Egypt.