The Waipa Post. Published on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. TUESDAY, OCTOBER 16, 1923. IMPROVED PUBLIC ACCOUNTS.

Waipa Post, Volume XXIV, Issue 1416, 16 October 1923, Page 4

The Waipa Post. Published on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. TUESDAY, OCTOBER 16, 1923. IMPROVED PUBLIC ACCOUNTS.

improvement in the finances of New Zealand is shown in the returns of revenue and expenditure for the first half of the financial year, which have just been made public by the acting-Minister of Finance. The revenue, according to the statement, is distinctly buoyant, the increase in the receipts, in comparison wit'll those for the first half of the previous financial year, being over half a million sterling—to be precise, £516,026. This may, we take it, be regarded as an index of an increasingly healthy condition, since the revenue for the first half of 1922-1923 showed a shrinkage of £214,314, as compared with that for the corresponding period of 1921-1922. An expansion of customs revenue and of the yield from income tax is an important factor in the increase in the receipts, but the returns from the Post and Telegraph and Stamps Departments and " miscellaneous " revenue each show a falling off. The total expenditure for the past (Six months was £405,499 less than for the same period of the preceding year. The expenditure of the Working Railways Department fell to the extent of £2BB,Bsß—probably largely due to the reduced purchases of coal with which to build up reserve stocks for use in the event of another coal miners' strike —and the chief' increase in expenditure was £99,347 in the case of the Education Department. The excess of expenditure over revenue for the six months was £1,485,711. This is not only not serious, but is relatively satisfactory by comparison, for in the corresponding period of the previous year the expenditure was £2,401,236 in excess of revenue. On the whole, therefore, the figures for the current year are encouraging, and in conjunction with the banking returns which were issued a fortnight ago, they constitute a proof of the returning prosperity of the Dominion. A comparison of the revenue and expenditure for the first six-monthly periods of the current year and the two previous years presents the following figures: 1921, revenue £10,191,865, expenditure £14,258,149, excess expenditure, £4,063,484; 1922, revenue £9,980,551, expenditure £12,496,577, excess expenditure £2,407,236; 1923, revenue £10,496,577, expenditure £11,982,288, excess expenditure £1,485,711. These figures show that while revenue has increased, the reduction in the national expenditure has 'been the chief factor in the improvement in the public finances, and they indicate the importance of the maintenance of a strong curb upon expenditure so that it may be kept within reasonable limits.