NEW ZEALAND MARKETS AFFECTED THIS YEAR BY INTERNATIONAL EVENTS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26956, 16 December 1948, Page 8

NEW ZEALAND MARKETS AFFECTED THIS YEAR BY INTERNATIONAL EVENTS

Special to the Daily Times AUCKLAND, Dec. 15.

International events dominated the markets during the year to a greater extent even than during some of the war years, said Mr Keith N. Buttle, chairman of the Auckland Stock Exchange, and president of the Stock Exchange Association of New Zealand, at the annual meeting of members of the exchange, A bombshell fell heavily on New Zealand investors in Australian securities and originated one of the widest reassessments of values that the market had experienced for many years. Heavy selling of New Zealand Government stock by Australian holders after the exchange adjustment had had the effect of temporarily depressing the local market. Although large parcels were offered, the market absorbed all that was available, and values soon settled to a normal level.

“ Surely those in authority must realise, before it is too late, that enterprise and initiative, be it individual, collective or corporate, must have adequate relief from taxation before any worth-while expansion or increase in production can ever hope to be achieved,” said Mr Buttle. In spite of the fact that the legislative machine seemed to be working at increased pressure producing laws and controls for the alleged purpose of facilitating the economy of the country, it was becoming increasingly obvious, that trade and commerce were being thrust even more tightly into the straitjacket of bureaucracy. Few of the big companies which apEroached the public for capital had een able to adhere in schedule to the programme they had laid down. Delays, chiefly in plants and buildings, had not only been costly to investors but, combined with the barrier of officialdom which had to be broken down, had dampened the spirit of industrial enterprise generally.