British Deficit Of £5,597,000 Accounted For By Rearmament

Northern Advocate, 2 April 1937, Page 5

British Deficit Of £5,597,000 Accounted For By Rearmament

[British Official Wireless .] (Received 10 a.m.)

■ - RUGBY, March 31. rpuE Exchequer returns for the whole financial year, ended tonight, show that the total realised revenue has amounted to £797,289,000, making the deficit £5,597,000. However, the expenditure figure includes a large sum applied to debt redemption. Authority was given in the last finance act to borrow for the payment of statutory sinking funds, but it had not been exercised and the -expenditure figures include a sum of £13,127,000, for redemption of debts by the terms of the sinking fund. Consequently, the current revenue of the year exceeded the current expenditure of the year, other than that for debt redemption, by £7,530,000. In his Budget speech last April, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Mr Neville Chamberlain, estimated the revem?e for the year at £798,381,000, and expenditure—including £158,251,000 the original total of the defence estimates, plus a margin of £20,000,000 for the defence supplementary estimates of £178,251,000, in all—at £797,897,000, with an estimated: surplus' of £484,000. . ‘’

Defence Provision Exceeded. Early in the financial year, it became evident that the provision for defence would be e'xceeded. Speaking in July, the Chancellor indicated that, in view of the general acceleration of the defence programme, it was already practically certain that there, would be a deficit. In the Budget, land revenue duties were estimated to produce . £433,000,000, an increase of £28.000,000 over last year's receipts. This substantial increase has not been quite attained. Th& total receipts are £3,250,000 below the estimate, namely:—lncome tax at £257,250,000,,, is below the estimate by £i;750,000T surtax, at £53,350,000, by £3,000,000; and estate duties, at £88,000,000, by £1,000,000. This is partly qffset by a surplus of £2.250,000 on stamps, which realised £29,250,000,’ and a surplus of £ 230,000 on minor inland revenue duties, which produced £1,730,000.

Customs Receipts Up. i The estimates for Customs and ex-/, eise revenue was £317,500,000,; or £34.000,000 more than was realised £ by receipts last year. This estimate r has been exceeded by £3,250,000, and, thus, receipts from Customs and excise and from inland revenue have together realised Budget expectations. On the expenditure side, the charge J for national debt was fixed at £224,- ': 000,000 for interest and management. - The charge has, in fact,'-ampiinted to 1 ■ only £ 210,873,000, leaving a margin of £13,127,000, which has been applied ,to redemption of debt. . The Budget provision for the supply - services was £562,597,000. The total ; amount of the estimates presented to Parliament during the year has' been; j £578,088,000, including £4l,o9l,ooo'’for supplementary estimates,, pf which, £11,138,000 was for civil Votes’and £29,953,000 was for defence. Defence Expenditure: Up. Actual Exchequer issues have | amounted to £567,230,000, a balance of | £10,858,000 representing the savings . spread over several Votes.'-.- - < ■ : Of the total issues, £186,072,000 is for defence and this, amount, Is ‘ £7,821,000 more than the amount expected to be spent at the time pf the Budget and' £49,123,000 more • than the expenditure in. 1935-36. This excess reflects • the general acceleration of the defence gramme since the Budget was framed, and more than accounts for the deficit shown. The floating debt now stands atT"" 5 £698,130,000, compared with £782,170,- | 000 a year ago It is made up of -1 Treasury bills, £674,595,000 and ways \ and means borrowing from public de- , partments, £23,535;000. ! Commenting on the results of the v financial year, as disclosed -./in; the Treasury return, “The Times” regards, it as a matter for congratulation,.‘that,!?! after excluding from the total of ord-: ‘ inary expenditure a sum of £13,127,000 devoted to repayment of debt, there .;-, is a real surplus of £7,530,000.' •. "