BANKING RETURNS

Southland Times, Issue 22218, 10 January 1934, Page 6

BANKING RETURNS

STRONG POSITION DISCLOSED.

THE DECEMBER QUARTER.

A position of considerable financial strength and solidity is shown in the returns of the six trading banks for the quarter ended December 31. The principal features compared with those of a year ago are marked increases in both the free and fixed deposits, a substantial increase in the note circulation, and a heavy decrease in the advances. Whereas a year ago there was a shrinkage of over £1,000,000 in the free deposits compared with the December quarter of 1931, the latest returns show marked increases in the current account balances of every bank, aggregating over £3,500,000. The increase in the free deposits is doubtless largely accounted fox' by the greatly enhanced realizations of the first wool sales of the season. Fixed deposits continue to mount up, the first quarter under review showing a record high level of ovex' £39,500,000 an increase of over £4,000,000 compared with those for the corresponding quarter of 1932. All the banks shared in the increase, notably the Bank of New Zealand and the National Bank of New Zealand, which together .c--count fox' nearly £25,000,000. The position of the fixed deposits is shown in the following tabie:— Bank Dec., 1932 Dec., 1933 Increase

Free deposits at £18,622,333 are higher than for any Decembei' quarter for the last four' years. The fixed deposits at £39,518,653 are more than £lO,000,000 greater than those of six years ago. The movements of the deposits in the December quarter for the last six years are shown in the following table:

Advances made by the banks show a decrease compared with the December quarter' of 1932 of £6,851,479, but the decline appears to have been checked during the last quarter, for which the total is slightly in advance of that for the September' quarter of 1933. The figures for the December quarters appear in the following comparison:— Bank Dec., 1932 Dec., 1933 Decrease £ £ £

Advances and discounts show the following fluctuations for the December quarters of the last six years:— Dec. Advances Discounts Total

The most interesting comparison is that showing the movements of the total deposits and advances in recent years as set out in the following table: Dec. Excess of quarter Deposits Advances Deposits £ £ £

♦Excess of advances. It will be seen from this table that the deposits now exceed the advances by no less than £14,389,000. Note circulation and gold coin and bullion figures compare as follows for the December quarters of the last six years:

£ £ £ New Zealand 17,868,956 19,267,465 1,398,500 National 6,074,253 7,162,769 1,088,516 Union 3,812,578 4,351,663 539,085 N.S. Wales 3,964,604 4,529,108 564,414 Australasia 2,956,299 3,385,172 428,873 Commercial 697,240 822,476 125,236 Totals 35,374,029 39,518,653 4,144,624

Dec. Free Fixed Quarter Deposits Deposits Totals. 1928 22,179,748 29,481,658 51,661,406 1929 22,728,494 30,628,239 53,356,733 1930 18,597,839 32,775,557 51,373,396 1931 16,145,438 34,635,595 50,781,033 1932 15,087,313 35,374,029 50,461,342 1933 18,622,333 39,518,653 58,140,986

New Zealand 22,942,580 18,900,820 4,035,760 National 8,651,098 7,494,517 1,156,581 Union 5,780,008 5,330,436 449,572 N.S. Wales 6,070,183 5,376,422 693,761 Australasia 4,829,845 4,343,935 485,910 Commercial 1,343,029 1,313,134 29,895 Total 49,616,743 42,765,264 6,851,479

quarter £ £ £ 1928 40,810,684 1,290,420 48,101,104 1929 52,612,487 1,195,344 53,807,831 1930 53,214,674 1,168,974 54,382,748 1931 50,317,689 699,903 51,016,782 1932 49,161,743 617,004 50,233,474 1933 42,765,264 986,713 43,751,977

1928 51,661,406 48,101,104 3,560,302 1929 53,356,733 53,807,831 *451,098 1930 51,373,396 54,382,748 *3,009,352 1931 50,718,033 51,016,782 *235,749 1932 50,461,342 50,233,747 227,595 1933 58,140,986 43,751,977 14,389,009

Note Coin and Dec. Circulation Bullion quarter £ £ 1928 6,521,106 7,263,331 1929 6.544,523 6,614,963 1930 6,133,388 6,862,939 1931 6,926,902 6,872,638 1932 6,016,856 5,420,060 1933 6,366,631 5,054,918