THE RESERVE BANK

Waikato Times, Volume 123, Issue 20693, 31 December 1938, Page 3

THE RESERVE BANK

RECORD NOTE ISSUE TOTAL OF £16,642,000 WELLINGTON, Saturday The note issue of the Reserve Bank, which in last week's return had reached the record level of £16,299,000, shows a further increase of £343,000 in the return issued in Wellington yesterday, making the latest figure £16,642,000, or £1,409.000 more than at the corresponding date last year. This year's holiday demand for cash currency is substantially the highest for any Christmas season since the Reserve Bank opened in 1934. The total in the return immediately after Christmas is usually the peak figure, a decrease being shown after the New Year. The value of Reserve Bank notes on issue at the end of December in the past five years is shown in the following table: Year Issue .. v.’ £5.350.000 •• •• 7,029,000 .. .. 13,041,000 ** ** 15,233,000 193 a •• •• 16,642,000 In 193 i and 1935 notes of the trading banks which had not been returned were shown as still being in circulation, the respective figures being £1,486,235 and £584,668. The issue figure of the Reserve Bank does not reveal the value of notes actually in the hands of the public. It includes the stocks held by banks as their equipment of cash currency —what is commonly known as till money.