BRITISH FINANCES

Stratford Evening Post, Volume II, Issue 450, 2 January 1934, Page 5

BRITISH FINANCES

National Accounts REVENUE AND EXPENDITURE i PROSPECT OF BALANCED BUDGET ’ } Press Association— Copyright. j Rugby, Dec. 30. The national accounts for the first three quarters of the current financial year show that the ordinary revenue for the period from April 1 to December 31 amounted to £416,300,783, compared with £404,331.904 for the corresponding period of last year. For the same period the expenditure amounted to £514,417,178, against £608,999,988 last year. Subjhctto the realisation of the estimates for Income tax and surtax receipts there is every prospect at the end of the current financial year of he budget being balanced, with a surplus. The excess of expenditure over revenue to date is about £98,000,000 against £204,500,000 last year. The difference of £lO6 500.000 between the two years is accounted for as £94,500,000 by reduction of expenditure and £12,000,000 by increased revenue savings in the reduction in debt service to date by the amount of £93,500,000 thus exceeding expectations. The rest of the saving in expenditure is on supply services. With the actual expenditure to date nearly £1,500,000 less than last year it is reasonable to expect that the full year's expenditure will fall below the estimate. On the revenue side the Chancellor ol the Exchequer (Mr. Neville Chamberlain) anticipates that receipts for income | tax and surtax will be £32,500,000 less | than the total received in the last finI ancial year. The receipts to date under I these headings are £79,250,000, about £4,000,000 less than last year, but as only I about one quarter of the year’s re- j j ceipts reach the exchequer in the first j three quarters it is impossible at this | I stage to make any forecast of the final j position. , ! I Estate duty figures at £67,000,000 show j i an increase of £19,250,000, compared with j an estimated decrease in the full year of ! £25 000,000. Stamp duties at £14,250,000 ! are £2,500,000 up on the figures for last j | year whereas the estimate for the w hole ' year’ is only £1,200,000 greater than the i actual receipt for 1932. For customs ex- ! cise the reduction of £19,000,000 is exI nected in the full year, whereas a reduc--1 lion of rather less than £4,000,000 is ! shown on the first nine months. I The floating debt at £974,000,000 is about £4.000.000 less than at December | 3l i as t year ami £163,500,000 more than j a t March 31 last; The increase since March is more than accounted for by the issue of £200,000.000 to the exchange equalisation account. Moreover it inI dudes a temporary excess of expencli--1 tu v e over revenue in the last nine j months of £93.000.000 The real result of the nine months’ period has been a subI stantial reduction in the floating debt ) figures. ; The accounts show that the unemployj ment fund has reduced its debt of £115,000,000 to the exchequer by £4,070,000.