D.—s

1936. NEW ZEALAND.

GOVERNMENT RAILWAYS SUPERANNUATION FUND. REPORT OF BOARD.

Laid before Parliament in pursuance of Section 124 of the Government Railways Act, 1926.

The Board has the honour to transmit for the information of Parliament the following report upon the transactions of the Government Railways Superannuation Fund for the year ended 31st March, 1936. The Revenue Account, Balance-sheet, and statements in connection therewith will be found appended. The income for the year exceeded the expenditure by £7,306 Bs. lOd. Members' Contributions--The income under this heading showed an increase of £7,444 10s. 7d. The number of contributors at 5, 6, 7, and 9 per cent, increased by 179, 6, 7, and 1, while contributors at 3 and 4 per cent, decreased by 63 and 8 respectively. The increase in amount of contributions is due to a partial restoration of salary and wages reductions and appointments to the permanent staff. Contingent Contributors. —During the year 146 casual employees elected to contribute to the fund, so that in the event of their subsequently being permanently appointed they would not be faced with a liability in respect of service prior to permanent appointment. The total number of employees so contributing at the end of the year under review was 337, and the amount standing to their credit £12,786 17s. Subsidy. —In addition to the sum of £170,000 paid into the fund by the Working Railways Department, a subsidy of £82,200 as was received from the Treasury in accordance with the provisions of section 17 of Finance Act (No. 2), 1934. Interest. —The interest earned amounted to £65,877 4s. Id., a decrease of £2,116 13s. 3d. as compared with the previous year. Table D, Statement of Investments, shows that the average rate of interest on securities held at the 31st March, 1936, was 4-577 per cent., and the average rate earned on the mean funds for the year 5-484 per cent., as against 4-672 per cent, and 5-697 per cent, respectively for the previous year. Life Allowances. —The expenditure on account of life allowances to members amounted to £419,569 Bs. Bd., a decrease of £2,908 3s. 2d. as compared with the figures for the previous year. Year ended 31st March, 1935, showed a decrease under this heading of £2,715 13s. Table A, Statement of Allowances, shows that the average amount of the eighty-one allowances granted during the year was £153 2s. 4d., and the average amount of 103 allowances discontinued was £151 16s. Bd. Allowances to Widows and Children.—The expenditure under the heading of allowances to widows and children showed an increase of £8 lis. 4d. The sum of £12,962 18s. 9d. was received from the Working Railways Account during the year on account of the increased payments to widows and children as provided in section 114, Part 111, of the Government Railways Act, 1926. Approval was received for the continuance of the cost-of-living bonus to annuitants in cases of special hardship where the allowance was less than £100, the amount of bonus granted being sufficient to bring the allowance up to £100, but with a maximum bonus of £26. The bonus is provided for out of the Working Railways Account, and is not a charge on the Superannuation Fund. At the 31st March, 1936, there were 2,314 members, 631 widows, and 363 children, making a total of 3,308 persons actually on the fund, involving an annual liability of £435,876 2s. 3d. D. G. Sullivan, Chairman, Government Railways Superannuation Fund Board.