BANKER SQUEALS

Grey River Argus, 22 May 1942, Page 5

BANKER SQUEALS

At Fixation of Interest Charges

(Rec. 11.55). SYDNEY, May 21. In a speech at the annual meeting of the Bank of Adelaide, the Chairman, Sir Howard Lloyd, protested against fixation of the rate of interest on advances made by banks at a five per cent, maximum. He declared this was arbitrary and illogical, and it was made without consideration of the incidence of risks which varied in each State. He said his Bank’s effective earnings on all over-drafts in the past two years, after allowing for interest not received, has not exeeded £4 15s Id per cent., while the range of rates amongst all of the Banks varied from below £4 13s to no higher than £4 17s per cent. The fact was that Banks lending on .all classes of security, often without security, were thus not permitted to earn as much as private mortgagees lending _ upon fixed securities and wide margins.