RESERVE BANK SHARES

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22717, 1 November 1935, Page 10

RESERVE BANK SHARES

RECENT DROP IN VALUES COMMENT BY MR COATES (Per United Press Association) WAIMAUKU, October 31. The fall in the price of Reserve Bank shares was the subject of comment to-day by the Minister of Finance. Mr Coates. The shares sold on the Auckland Stock Exchange yesterday at £6, a fall of 7s Cd on the last sale a week ago and 5s below the previous lowest price. In an interview, Mr Coates agreed that the fall was probably due solely to the forthcoming general election, but stated that it revealed a lack of confidence, not in the Government, but in the Government's opponents. There was apparently some fear that if another political party was returned to power the shares now held by the public would be taken over, and there was perhaps a measure of uncertainty as to the price that might be paid. The same argument applied to the shares of the' Mortgage Corporation, which had also fallen slightly on the Stock Exchange. " I hope the holders of these securities will not be tempted to dispose of them at a price below the normal level," Mr Coates said, " Both these institutions were established by the Government as an integral part of its programme for the financial rehabilitation of the country and to provide perfectly secure avenues for investment. There is no call for uncertainty as to the future. The benefits afforded by both the Reserve Bank and Mortgage Corporation are such that a majority of the electors will not desire to see a change from the present system pf control."