COMPANY MEETING
BANK OF NEW SOUTH WALES
AUSTRALIA'S SUCCESSFUL YEAR MR. R. W. GILLESPIE'S REVIEW
THE Ordinary General Meeting of the Bank of New South Wales was held in Sydney on November 24th.
Mr. Robert W. Gillespie (the President), in the course of his speech, said: Australia passed through the year 1938-39 very successfully in view of the troubles that beset it. Export incomes were considerably reduced by low export prices and deflationary tendencizs were further strengthened by a severe drought early in 1939. Import prices remained high, and as interest rates and wages rose, so did internal prices.
Australia's success in meeting the danger of instability reflects the increasing skill with which the authorities are able to offset oversea influences. Industry and trade were given a stimulus by central-bank expansion and by a small increase in government spending. However, there are limits to the possibility of expansion,- set by the level of London funds and divergence between internal and oversea prices. It is proper that short-term fluctuations in income from exports of primary produce should not be allowed to dislocate the economy. On the other hand, insulation by credit expansion is no adequste substitute for the readjustments that are necessary when export income moves to a new level that seems likely to become permanent.
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