STATE EXPENDITURE

Grey River Argus, 15 March 1940, Page 3

STATE EXPENDITURE

Jump in Britain SIX-AND-A-HALF million a DAY. [British Official Wireless.] RUGBY, March 13. When the Commons went into committee of supply, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, on the vote of a credit of £700,000,000 for war-time expenditure, gave several details of Government expenditure on the war. He recalled that, on September 1, the House authorised the vote of a credit of £500,000’000, to cover the outlay likely to be increased in the near future. Up to March 9, the amount spent out of this sum was in the neighborhood of £300,000,000, and I “so far as one could see, at the end of the financial year there would probably be short spending of something between £70,000,000 and £100,000,000 out of the £500,000,000 authorised.” Sir John Simon revealed that the expenditure on the three defence services and the Ministry of Supply at present was at the rate of nearly £4,000,000 daily, while the war services coming within the scope of the vote of credit —A.R.P., shipping, food, and evacuation —were spending at the rate of some £1,000,000 daily. “Taking the whole war expenditure together, covered by this vote, we are at present incurring a rate of expenditure close on £5,000,000 daily. That will give some indication of how long the £700,000,000 may be expected to last.” The vote of credit was not available for other Government expenditure, which should be added in order to envisage the total amount the Government was spending. Making a rough calculation of the total Sir John Simon suggested a figure of £6,500,000 daily.