MONEY AWAITING INVESTMENT

Southland Times, Issue 23548, 30 June 1938, Page 6

MONEY AWAITING INVESTMENT

MR NASH REPLIES TO CONTENTION I CHANGE OF GOVERNMENT NOT EXPECTED (From Our Parliamentary Reporter) WELLINGTON, June 29. The conviction that if there was money waiting for investment in New Zealand until there should be a change of Government it would have to wait a long time was expressed by the Minister of Finance (the Hon. W. Nash) when replying in the House of Representatives tonight to Opposition speakers on the Imprest Supply Bill. Mr Nash quoted the Hon. Sir Alfred Ransom (Nat., Pahiatua) as having said that there was any amount of money in New Zealand which would not be invested while the present Government was in power. That sort of thing suggested an element of conspiracy against the Government and if it were true it was time the Government was more powerful still so that it could deal with the situation. If investors were holding up their money until a change of Government, however, they would have to wait a long time and he did not think they would be willing to do so. “The Leader of the Opposition (the Hon. Adam Hamilton) took credit for having reduced the public debt between 1932 and 1933,” Mr Nash said. “I would not cite that if I had anything to do with that Government, considering the condition of the people of the country at that time. Those were the days of old clothes drives and yet the Opposition takes credit for having saved the money.” Discussing the unexplained decrease of £12,000,000 in the sterling exchange funds referred to by Mr Hamilton, Mr Nash stated in reply to questions by Opposition members that it would probably be about £6,000,000, or approximately half the sum mentioned by the Opposition. “I have never heard a more unfair criticism than that of the Opposition in regard to the railway deficit,” said Mr Nash. “The Minister of Railways is spending the money to bring the rolling stock and permanent way up to the standard necessary both from an economic and safety point of view.” Discussing Opposition statements about the drop in the London funds, Mr Nash said the wise procedure was to get enough surplus exports to pay the interest on the country’s debts. Mr Hamilton: There is not sufficient now.

Mr Nash said he was prepared to admit that the margin of exports over imports was not sufficient at present, but there had been such a piling up of funds that he did not think there was any danger of the country being unable to meet its obligations. He thought the country was importing too much and the Government would be glad to have the co-operation of the Opposition in dealing with that problem.