TRADING BANKS

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXVII, Issue 23594, 1 March 1940, Page 8

TRADING BANKS

JANUARY RETURN FURTHER FALL IN ADVANCES DEPOSITS CONTINUE TO RISE EXCESS NOW £26,500,000 [hv telegraph—own connespoxdext] W!•:LLIXGTOX, Th u r sda y The monthly statement of assets and liabilities of the six trading banks at the close of business on Monday, January 29, was gazetted to-night. A comparison of the principal items with the figures in the return at December 25 is as follows: — January December 1' t Circulation .. 13,334,370 15,026,405 Free deposits .. 44,799,671 4L,339,891 Fixed deposits .. 3'l ,7!!7,:t!i8 31,800,405 .Advances .. 4?),1.(01,831 51,137,300 London assets . . 8,073,230 8,160,913 For the fourth successive month there has been a fall in the level of advances, the decrease on this occasion being £1,175,000, compared, with £1,223,000 in the previous month. Free deposits have shown a turther rise of £3,460,000, while fixed deposits have shown a slight decline of approximately £139,000. The easing off in trade following Christmas activity is reflected in the note circulation, which is £2,292,000 lower than it was at the end of December. London assets have advanced, by £BIO,OOO from the previous month's figures. Notes in Circulation Notes uf tile Reserve Bank held as til! money on .lannary 29 were valued ai £4.980,080, coin pa red with £3.665,630 the month before. The issue at the end of January was £18.314.156. making the active circulation £13,334.370. The issue and circulation at the end of January in the past four years have been: Issue Circulation Jan., £ £ 1037 .. .. 13,008,302 8,355,153 1038 .. 14,240,044 9,660,812 1030 .. .. 15,365,858 10,075,132 1940 .. .. 18,314,456 13,331,370 Free deposits, or current account balances, are some £8.624.000 higher than in the January return last year, indicating that funds are still accumulating to an exceptional degree on current account. Fixed deposits are also about £1.793,000 higher than at the corresponding period last year. The levels of the two classes of deposits and their totals in the January returns from 1935 onward are as follows: Free Fixed Total Jan. .t £ ,C 1935 .. 25,8515,510 30,141.416 62,300,026 1936 .. 28,827,015 37,033,007 05.801,522 1907 .. 35.020,001 32,019,080 67,960,0S 1 1938 .. 36,180,250 31,031,058 67,817,017 3 939 .. 36,175,876 29,931,326 66,110,202 1910 .. 4 1,799.671 31,727,308 70,527,000 Advances and Deposits Advances at the end of January were some £6,225,000 lower than the level recorded a year previously and the total is considerably lower than it was at the beginning of 1938. Further evidence of reduced business activity is provided by the fact that the excess of deposits over advances has risen from £9,923,000 in January, 3939, to more than £26.500,000 last month. The position at the end of January in the past six years is shown in the following table: Excess of Deposits Advances Deposits Jan. ,i £ £ 1935 .. 62,300,020 44,798,852 17,502,074 1036 .. 65,861,522 15,619,334 20,212,188 1937 . . 67,969,081 47,416,64 9 20,553,332 1938 .. 67,H17,917 53,313,050 11.501,807 .1939 .. 66,110,202 56,187,030 9,923.166 1910 . . 76,527,009 49,961,831 26,565,238 Overseas Assets Fluctuations in the value of assets held abroad, in London and elsewhere on account of New Zealand business, as shown in the January returns since 1935 have been as follows: — London Elsewhere Total •Jan. £ £ £ 1935 .. 12,231.355 7,897,234 20,33.1,589 1936 .. 11,119,879 6,183,192 17,333,071 1937 .. 7,301,885 5,221,770 12,583,055 1938 .. 5,739,073 3,439,731 9.178,804 1939 .. 4,170,061 1.704,070 5,064,734 1910 .. 8,973.230 2,007,353 11,040,583 Overseas liabilities on account of New Zealand business total £3.149,524 in the January statement, the demand liabilities being £2.606,345 and the time liabilities £543.179. The aggregate figure in the December return was £2.772.104. Subsidiary coin in the banks at January 29 was valued at £771,386. compared with £590.997 in the December return. The banks also held gold valued at £595 at the end of January.