SUPPLY POSITION LIKELY TO BECOME WORSE

Greymouth Evening Star, 17 March 1948, Page 3

SUPPLY POSITION LIKELY TO BECOME WORSE

(P.A.) NEW PLYMOUTH, March 16. Grave alarm was felt by the retail trade throughout New Zealand because of the reduction in the 1948 basic import licences and the Government’s present attitude in granting very few supplementary licences to importers on the evidence of ability, said a report presented to the conference of the Retailers Fedeiation. , ~ “There is no indication that there vol! be any marked improvement in liie near future in deliveries of many locally-manufactured goods,” the report stated. “In many cases the supply position is likely to deteriorate until it becomes as difficult as any time since 1940. “The trade is utterly at a loss, to understand why, in addition to being told that we must live within our income, responsible departments aie so definite in their assertions that the main reason why special licences 3oj. the importation of many essential lines are being refused is that there are ample stock reserves to meet the public demand for a considerable time. The trade has no hesitation m challenging the Government to inform the public on what grounds this opinion is based. “Retailers have ample evidence that sufficient supplies are available in Britain to relieve the future stock position considerably.”