AUCKLAND LOANS

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXI, Issue 21716, 3 February 1934, Page 12

AUCKLAND LOANS

POSITION IN LONDON LOCAL BODIES TO CONFER In view of the position which has arisen in London in connection with Auckland lo&ps, the Mayor of Auckland, Mr. G. W. Hutchison, proposes to ask those local bodies which have loans maturing in London or are desirous of raising money in London within the next few months to meat and consider the matter. This intention was expressed by Mr. Hutchison yesterday, when he was explaining the conditions under which the City Council is proceeding to raise its redemption loan of £200,000. His attention was directed to a statement from Dunedin that, by sending its town clerk to England, the Dunedin City Council had 'raised its most recent 4J per cent loan at a. minimum of cost, and that by adding underwriting and other charges tho effective rate of interest on the Auckland 4 per cent loan would be raised to 4} per cent. Mr. Hutchison said the Auckland loan referred to had not yet been put on the market. It was a redemption loan and the redemption of the debentures had been arranged through the Bank of New Zealand by way of a temporary bank overdraft until advice was received that conditions were favourable to the placing of the loan on the market on the terms authorised. "As a matter of fact," said the Mayor, "the latest advice we have received from London is that no Auckland loans will be considered until such time as the dispute between the London financiers and the Auckland Transport Board is settled. Probably the iirst Auckland loan to be affected by that embargo will be one of £IOO,OOO due by the Auckland and Suburban Drainage Board, and as chairman of that hoard I have been in communication with the Minister of Finance, the Rt. Hon. J. G. Coates, in regard to the nosition. At his suggestion I propose to ask such local bodies as have loans maturing in London or are desirous of raising money in London within the next few months to meet and consider the matter."