SURPLUS INDICATED

Manawatu Standard, Volume LV, Issue 4, 1 December 1934, Page 7

SURPLUS INDICATED

IN NATIONAL ACCOUNTS. IMPROVEMENT BEING MAINTAINED. Per Press Association. CHRISTCHURCH, Dec. 1. Figures in support of tile forecast that the country’s present financial year will close with a small surplus were quoted by the Prime Minister (Mr Forbes) when speaking at Cheviot. He said the accounts for the seven months ended October 31 disclosed a continuance of the satisfactory upward trend which had been in evidence since the commencement of the year. The total revenue received for the seven months amounted to £ll,9oo,UUU, compared with £9,312,000 last yeai for the corresponding period —an increase of £2,623,000. x 1 „ rnn Taxation had contributed £I,oUL,000 towards this .increase; practically every, item showed an excess over last year’s receipts and there were some reductions in Customs duties. “As no increases were made in any of the rates of taxation, the existing position is a solid indication of the recovery that is taking place in trade and industry,” Mr Forbes said. The upward movement is also particularly noticeable in the national endowment and territorial revenue, which are directly related to the land and reflect an improved position of at least some sections of the rural community. Mr Forbes said the indications were that the expenditure on debt services and other permanent appropriations would closely approximate the amount appropriated. The figures showed that the expenditure was being held within the estimate and, combined with the fact that the revenue was well up, the ' expectations fully supported the forecast that the year would close with a small surplus. EXCHANGE AND FOREIGN MARKETS. Questions of exchange and foreign markets were touched on by the Prime Minister. “We are often told the Government should not interfere in business,” he said. “That js the last thing the Government wishes to do. If business can go on without assistance no one is better pleased than the Government, but if the market depends on the good will of another country it becomes a matter for negotiations between the Governments of the countries concerned.” The Premier added that the British Ministers had been very fair indeed in their treatment of New Zealand and were doing their best for the Dominion. Mr Forbes said it was the intention of the Government to set up a board to examine the prospects of new markets and take the fullest advantage of the opportunities offering in Great Britain. This legislation had met ■with criticism, but when new ground was broken criticism followed naturally. In these proposals the Government was acting on the advice and experience of practical men. Mr Forbes also • ref erred to the benefits the farmers had received from the exchange and said lie did not know whether the dairy farmers would have been able to carry on without it. This measure was adopted in the face of the bitterest criticism, but the farmers were the backbone of the country and the country as a whole had benefited from the steps taken.