BRITISH BUDGET

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XXIV, Issue 93, 3 April 1934, Page 11

BRITISH BUDGET

31 MILLION SURPLUS Remarkable Result Achieved FLOATING DEBT IMPROVED British Official Wireless Service. RUGBY, March 31. Britain’s financial year ended to-night with a net surplus of £31,147,860. This remarkable and satisfactory figure is reached after allowance has been made for payments in respect of the war debt to the United States of £3,304,392, and for £7,748,868 set aside for a new sinking fund.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer, Mr Neville Chamberlain, in last year’s Budget anticipated a surplus of only £1,300,000 without making provision for these payments. He had anticipated a revenue of £698,800,000 and expenditure of £697,500,000. The returns issued to-night, show that revenue amounts to £724,567,149 and expenditure (including the payments mentioned above) to £693,419,289. The true saving, as compared with the Budget estimates, is therefore approximate!) £42,000,000, although this figure is swollen by certain “windfall” items. The Budget estimated the receipt from income-tax of £228,750,000, and this has been almost exactly realised. Surtax has produced £52,500,000, an increase of £1,500,000 over the estimate Estate duties estimated to produce £74,750,000 have in fact produced £85,250,000, having been swollen by an exceptionally large amount from a single estate.

Customs and excise receipts very largely exceeded expectations. They were estimated at £269,000,000 anti actually produced £286,000,000.

Post Office net revenue at £131,000,000 is £1,500,000 more than expected. On the expenditure side the charge tor national-debt interest was estimated at £244,000,000, excluding the statutory sinking funds, which it was expected would be mot from borrowed moneys. Actually the charge for interest and management has amounted to only £213,000,000, thus leaving a margin within the fixed debt charge of £11,000,000, out of which it has been possible to make a token payment, of £3,250,000 to the United States and sinking-fund payments of £7,750,000. As regards supply services, the Budget estimates and supplementary votes totalled £466,500,000, but, thanks to savings, the actual Exchequer issue amounted to £458,750,000.

The floating debt now stands nt £844,750,000, made up of £799,810,000 in Treasury bills and £44,900,000 in ways-and-means advances. As the corresponding total a year ago was £BlO,455,000 the figure shows an increase of £34,500,000; but during the year the floating debt was increased by the issue of £200.000,000 to the Exchange Equalisation Account, against which assets to a corresponding amount, are held, so that, apart from this item, there has been a reduction in the floating debt of £105,750,000 in the year. PRESS OPINIONS <Bv Telegraph—Press Assn.—Copyright.) LONDON, April 2. The “Daily Herald”, the Labour newspaper says: “Mr Neville Chamberlain is being congratulated on the big surplus. Really this is a sign of bad budgetting. If Mr Chamberlain a year ago restored every cut he would still have had a surplus, relieved incalculable suffering and given a fillip to trade.”

The “Daily Telegraph,” on the contrary, hail® the surplus as a “triumph of sound finance.” It says: “Instead of the realised surplus going towards the reduction of debt, as is customary, it may be used to lessen the debt of the Unemployment Fund.”

“The Times” says: “There are features of the Exchequer figures which preclude any rollicking optimism about the future. One-fourth of the surplus is due to the duty on the Ellcrman estate, which is a non-recurrent windfall It is unwise to assume that the prospective surplus for 1934-35 will b« much greater than that for the year just ended.” The “Morning Post’’ estimates the surplus at about fifty millions The “Sunday Express” described the revenue returns as a magnificent. Easter egg for taxpayers. The City thinks the chances of an income-tax cut are considerable.