† In addition to these issues, £200 stock was floated in Hobart at 4 per cent. (a) Placed locally. 0 0 4 10 0 (b) Placed in London. 349 350 LATEST LOAN ISSUES. New South Wales Funded Victorian Loan of 1892. Western Australia. Queensland Loan o: 1893. Tasmania. FUNDED LOANS ISSUED IN 1892-3. New South Wales, in November, 1892, had authority to issue £1,000,000 of the £3,000,000 4 per cent. Funded stock at a minimum price of par, £227,000 of which was disposed of by the 31st December of that year. A further issue of £500,000 at par was authorised in April, 1893. Up to 1st June, 1893, £1,224,430 of stock had been disposed of. The cost of the issue is practically nil, except the per cent. paid for brokerage; but this last is only payable in respect of a portion of the issue, the bulk of the stock being taken direct by the Treasury. Victoria issued a £2,000,000 loan in June, 1892; the average price realised was £92 1s. 4d. per cent., and the rate yielded to investors, after allowing for redemption at par on maturity, was £3 18s. 10d. Western Australia floated two loans during 1892, amounting to £250,000 and £400,000 respectively, which were the second and third instalments of the £1,336,000 loan, authorised in 1891. The former brought an average price of £99 2s. and the latter £100 3s. 1d., as compared with £100 10s. 10d. obtained in 1891. The rate of interest was 4 per cent. Queensland in January, 1893, placed a 31-per cent. loan of £1,182,400 on the London market; the average price obtained was £88 16s. 4d. The charges were heavier than usual as the loan was underwritten at the rate of 1 per cent. Tasmania issued a 3 per cent. loan of £800,000 in March, 1893, which is part of the £2,100,000 authorised in December, 1892. The loan was only a partial success, £600,000 being taken up and the balance withdrawn. The particulars of the last funded loan issues made by each Colony since 1889 to the end of 1892, are as follow: *Part of the £1,532,913 loan, particulars of which will not be available till the whole of the stock is sold. + Funded stock. 351 352 Repayment of Conversion. Interest to CONVERSION OF LOANS. By comparing the returns in the foregoing table with those of Treasury Bills, it will be seen that the rates per cent. paid on the latter are much in advance of those on loans floated as part of the fixed debt. The repayment of the Victorian and Western Australian Loans are either on or after a fixed date; the Governments under this condition reserve to themselves the option of redeeming at the minimum or maximum dates, or any period between them, on giving the necessary six or twelve months' notice. Canada was the first of the British possessions to introduce this principle, and it is probable that it will be generally adopted by the Colonies. Much attention has been bestowed on the question of converting the loans of each Colony to a uniform interest basis, and arranging that the stock shall fall due on a uniform date, the Government having the option of either repaying at that date or continuing the loan for a further period, as may seem the more expedient. Several of the Colonies have had under consideration a method of conversion, but it is obvious that the present time is inopportune for any such proposal. It is certain, however, that conversion cannot be long delayed, as the existing arrangement is confusing to investors, and awkward for the Colonies when the market is against reborrowing. The following statement shows the rates obtained by investors on loans floated by the Colonies during the years 1889, 1890, 1891, and 1892. The computations allow for the repayment of the various loans at par on maturity. The loans are arranged in the order in which they were floated, and it will be seen that the market has been gradually rising against the Colonies during the whole period. The loan yielding least income to investors and consequently the most favourable to the Colony borrowing, was the Victorian loan of January, 1889, which gave the investors £3 5s. 5d. per cent., while the highest was the Western Australian loan of July, 1891, which gave investors £4 Os. 11d. per cent. During the period covered by the table the average INTEREST OBTAINED BY INVESTORS. interest has increased 10s. 3d.. per cent., the increase being fairly 353 *Part of the £1,532,913 loan. of colonial None of the loans floated during 1892 and 1893 were obtained Depreciation on terms which can be considered altogether satisfactory, clearly securities. indicating that the prestige of colonial securities has for the present departed. Some few years ago New Zealand stock was Ꮓ |