B.—o.

1941. NEW ZEA L AND.

FINANCIAL STATEMENT. (In Committee of Supply, 16th July, 1941.) BY THE HON. WALTER NASH, MINISTER OF FINANCE.

• Mr. Chairman,— It is my privilege to lay before honourable members a review of the Dominion's finances and of the Government's proposals for the current financial year. We again meet under the cloud of a war which threatens the freedom and, in fact, the very existence of the British Commonwealth. While we feel confident of ultimate victory, and the signs are not wanting that the tide is slowly turning—none can foretell how soon this will be brought about. In recent months the reality of the struggle in which we are engaged has been brought home to us, not only by the initiative, courage, and enterprise of our military forces in Greece and Crete, by the lists of killed, missing, and prisoners of war, and the wounded who reached our shores a short time ago, but also to an increasing extent by the economic difficulties arising out of the war'. We have to contend with disruption in overseas trade through inability to ship all our produce available for export, together with uncertainty, delays, shortages of supply, and, in some lines, impossibility of obtaining the imports required for our manufacturers, primary producers, and consumers. Within the Dominion the withdrawal of man-power for the armed forces, the various measures being organized to meet possible war emergencies, combined with the use of an increasing proportion of the country's manufacturing capacity for war-supplies, have all added to the difficulties to be overcome in maintaining trade and industry. As stated on previous occasions, economic and financial stability is essential as a basis for maximum production and a sustained war effort and also for the maintenance of the welfare of the people. So far the Government's efforts to maintain economic and financial stability, notwithstanding all the difficulties encountered, have been successful. Production for 1939-40 (the latest available figures) amounted to £143,500,000, an increase of £8,700,000 over the previous period. Notwithstanding the withdrawal of men for the armed forces, the number of factory employees for 1940-41 showed an increase of 3,500, while aggregate salaries and wages paid during this period amounted to £123,500,000, the total being £10,700,000 greater than for the previous period. Unemployment has been reduced to negligible proportions. These results are reflected in the savings-bank figures for the year ended 31st May, 1941. Deposits in the Post-office Savings-bank exceeded the withdrawals by £3,864,000. During the previous year withdrawals exceeded deposits by £1,971,000, so that the improvement for the year is therefore £5,835,000. The amount standing to the credit of depositors at the 31st May, 1941, reached the record total of £63,960,000.

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