N.Z.’S BANKING POSITION

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 401, 9 July 1928, Page 12

N.Z.’S BANKING POSITION

DEPOSITS INCREASING EXCESS OF £11,650,000 FOR YEAR A continuation of the improvement in the banking position is revealed in the second series of weekly returns published by the Government Statistician in the “Abstract of Statistics.” The first covered the seven weeks to May 21; returns to June 18 are now given. For the first seven weeks there was an average excess of deposits over advances of £6,967,905. Deposits have steadily increased in the last four weeks and advances have declined, until at June 18, the excess was £8,428,311. The average for the 11 weeks, however, is_an excess of deposits of £7,394,656. Following is a comparison of the average returns for the June quarter of last year, the March quarter of this year, and the AprilJune period covered by the weekly returns: —• Deposits. Advances. Excess. £ £ £ June, 1927 . 46,490,366 50,753,105 *4,262,739 March, 192 S 49,958,295 46,070,370 t 3,887,925 April-June . 53,432,476 46,037,520 t 7.394.656 ♦Excess of advances. fExcess of deposits. The provisional return indicates an improvement of £11,650,000 in the year. The average excess for the quarter will evidently approximate that recorded for the June quarter three years ago, £7,527,866, which was the highest figure since the abnormal plethora of funds in 1920. MOVEMENT IN FIXED DEPOSITS According to the weekly returns, the aggregate of free deposits was £26,463,923 on April 23; since then, the total has declined by £1,358,262. On the other hand, fixed deposits show a steady increase week by week, amounting to £1,936,454 over the whole period. The aggregate amount of discounts and advances fluctuated slightly in the first four weeks, but each return since then shows a reduction, the total at June 18 being £1,072,507 below that at April 30. Following are details of the returns of deposits and advances, the averages for the first seven weeks being given with the weekly totals for the second period, and in the last line, the averages for 11 weeks: Period

Av’gest £1,156,483 £44,881,337 £46,037,820 ♦Averages for seven weeks. fAverages for 11 weeks. IMPROVED BUSINESS IN MAY The returns also show the volume of banking transactions under bank debits (amounts debited to customers’ accounts) and clearings (outward exchanges delivered during the week). Following are details for successive periods of four and three weeks:

The statistician remarked that, regarding these statistics as indexes of the volume of business, the transactions in May indicate relatively greater activity than in April. Following are details of the net circulation of banknotes, excluding the holdings by the various banks of notes issued by other banks, and of the coin and bullion:

The average net circulation for the 11 weeks was £6,331,366, as against £6,212,108 in the March quarter. Metal reserves averaged £7,555,929. as against £7,867,458 in the March quarter.

Free. Fixed. Totals. . £ £ £ . 25,414,017 28,352,536 53,767,453 . . 25,139,036 28,645,281 53,784,317 . . 25,105,661 23,768,460 53,874,121 * . 25,841,300 27,408,490 53,249,808 May 28 . . 25,471,361 28,111,333 53,582,694 Av'ges £25,638,194 £27,794,282 £ 53,432,476 Period Ended. Discounts. Advances. Totals. £ £ £ May 21 . 1,145,912 45,135,991 44.463.8S7 46,281,903 May 28 . . 1,231,351 45,695,238 June 4 . . 1.157,181 44,531,342 45,688,523 . . 1,172,892 44,430,235 45,603,127 June IS . . 1,138,507 44,317,303b 45,455,810

Debits. Clearings. £ £. April (4 weeks). . . . 75,334,970 36,S45,896 May (4 weeks) . . . 77,951,410 37,675,031 June (3 weeks) . . 54,340,049 25,739,599

Week Ended. Net Circulation. Coin and Bullion, May 2S . . . 5,990^241 7,364,017 June 4 . . . (>,766,625 7,315,517. June 11 . 6,102,486 7,359,313 June 18 . . 6,080,093 7,351,628