EXCHANGE ON NEW YORK.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XLVI, Issue 14985, 12 August 1919, Page 7

EXCHANGE ON NEW YORK.

EFFECT ON WORLD TRADE. FINANCE MINISTER'S VIEW. The fall m the rate of stelrling exchange m America, and its effect upon trade, were matters upon which Sir J. Ward, Minister for Finance, was asked to express an opinion. He stated that the question had come under his personal observation- . while . he was m the United States recently. There could be no doubt that the fa]l m the rate was a very serious thing from the point of view of trade, said Sir Joseph; When he was. m New York the valua' of the pound was down t0. 4 dollars 45 cents, which at the prewar rate of exchange was the equivalent of 18s. That meant! a loss of over 10 per cent, and he understood that since then it had- fallen further. , -*■ "Unless some effort is made to maintain a- rate/ of exchange < a£ what is known as a normal figure," said the Minister, <'it is bound to have a bad effect upon trade, not only that. of Britain, but of all countries which America may buy from- or even sell to. It looks to me to be a question for a thorough investigation, by responsible financial j authorities, not- only m, ( ...the Motherland" andf. -the United ,4^ates^but m all countries; Our exchange ' from this countiry to Britain i» far and away [beyond what it ought to be, and, m the interests .of financial institutions themselves, and of the countries affected, thew must be found an effective way of /remedying this. However, the matter w one whioh I intend to go into fully jas^oon as;l haye the opportunity/ a& yjyJakjne of the • great questions ,of the9|Hßrom the point of view of the dev|^^Hp>t of trade between the wor^HKres. As New Zealand is a greaffKving. country of natural pro- ; duct*, iw is most; important that something soould' be done. Askeaif the fall m the rate of American exchange offered a good opportunity oi raising a Dominion loan m the United States, Sir Joseph said he did pot thfck there was at present any necessfy for New Zealand to go on to ittie Anerican market^ for loans. Not .only fiat, but America had lent enor- 1 mnousfloang to Britain, Italy, 'France, ; -and jfelgium, and quite recently a dei<cisioy had been .arrived at there of a rest/stive nature m regard to lending ,3ara sums out of the country. So, at I lea» he had been informed by a- United fitaues Senator. Another thing was th» he thought, m the meantime, the i Dcfcinion could obtain m New Zealand I nil/that was needed, thoujrh the all-i-iriportant question had to be borne m i n/nd ■of not depleting the money marjpt for Government purposes, and so creating short supplies locally for the iommercial and industrial needs of the .(country. "We are quite all right for rthe present," declared Sir Joseph, m [conclusion.