DOMINION’S REVENUE

New Zealand Times, Volume L, Issue 11684, 23 November 1923, Page 4

DOMINION’S REVENUE

SEVEN MONTHS PERIOD INCREASE OF £713,838 COMPARED WITH PREVIOUS YEAR. FINANCIAL POSITION HOPEFUL. Per Press Association. AUCKLAND, November 22r. A statement setting out the revenue and expenditure of the Dominion for* the first seven months of the year wan made by the Hon. Downie Stewart at the Chamber of Commerce luncheon to-day. It showed the total revenue for the last seven months was £12,856,448, compared with £11,642,610 for 1922. The principal increases are Customs, £935,915, and income tax, £253,253, and the principal decreases are Post an<J Telegraph, £135,663. and interest on public moneys, £277,804. The decreases in the last item were due to the non-recovery of the half-year*! interest from the Discharged Soldiers* Settlement Account, which was in need of money for re-issue and advances. The net increase of revenue for sever months was £713,838, which figure! the Minister thought, were evidence oi the extraordinary recuperative power of the Dominion. He pointed out that it was during the last few montha of the year that the two great sources of revenue—land tax and income tax — came to hand, and also that during the summer the railway returns cue* tomarily showed a marked increase. He was hopeful, therefore, that the financial year would show satisfactory results. Substantial reductions in taxation had to taken into consideration, but it waa' not yet possible to estimate the * effect of these concessions, continued the Minister, who refuted the allegation that these had been at the expench oi\\M poorer sections of the ‘community TRADE WITH ’’iTTWiflt In a speech at the under of Com. merce luncheon, the )ku. Downie Stewart stated that the trade between Australia and -New Zealand had been more evenly balanced since the tariff treaty had been operating but heavy shipments of coal from the Commonwealth since October were swinging the pendulum in favour. ;of Australia again. The following ngures would give an idea of the variation in exports from the Dominion to Australia m the nine-monthly periods of 1921 and 1923. The figures Tor ';23 are in parentheses:—Butter £K (£366,844); cheese, £4613 (£48,409): baoon and hams, £69 (£5641); nsh (frozen), £2O 501 (£31,923); tallow, £22,751 (£80,633); timber (rough sawn), £366,740 (£314,570); total exports to Australia (including re-exports), £1,482,282 and £2,119,963 respectively. The increase in butter is attributable to the drought in Australia. VARIATION OF IMPORTS. Imports of Australian origin varied as follow:—During the nine months of 1918, £4,043,383, being 17 per cent, of the total import; 1919, £3,916,108, being 13 per cent, of the total import; 1922, £3,292,632, being 9 per cent, of the total import; 1923, £2,620,840, being 8 per cent, of the total import. Imports of United Kingdom origin for the same yeans and same period* were: —l9lß, £8,703,480, being 36 per cent, ef the total import; .1919, £ll 523,653, being 38 per cent, of the total import; 1922, £18,296,173, being 52 per cent, of the total import; 1923, £16,145,346, being 51 per cent, of the total import. BALANCE AFFECTED BY COAL. Another factor had been the decreased importations from Australia until October of this year of coal. During the nine months ended September. 1921, coal valued at £700,870 was imported ; in 1922, the value fell t< £555,771, and in 1923 to £284,897 (all nine-monthly periods). “It was hoped,” concluded the Minister, “that this decrease in coal importations would alter the balance, but there has been a large increase since October, the value of the shipments, being £85,000. As far as can be seen, the only condition likely to affect the trade balance with Australia during the rest of this year is th* large importations of coal which hav now become necessary.”