§ MR. J. M. MACLEAN (Cardiff)I beg to ask the Secretary of State for India whether the deficit for the year 1897–98 announced in the Indian Budget, Rx.5,280,000, includes or excludes the £4,000,000 sterling, equivalent, say, to Rx.6,000,000, borrowed in England and applied in part payment of the home charges for the year; and what are the total net amounts of the actual additions to the debt of India in 1897–98, and estimated to be added in 1898–99, without reckoning capital raised for expenditure on reproductive public works?
§ THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR INDIAThe deficit of Rx.5,280,000 in 1897–98 is the excess of expenditure chargeable against revenue over the revenue of the year. It includes the interest charged in the year in respect of sterling debt incurred; but, in arriving at the amount of deficit, the money raised by borrowing in the year is not reckoned as part of the revenue of the year. It is, however, included in the Ways and Means, out of which the deficit and capital expenditure have been met. The total net additions to the debt of India in 1897–98 and 1898–99 are estimated as follows:—In England, £11,112,600; in India, Rx.5,424,900; but I am unable to say how much of this has been, or will be, applied to expenditure on reproductive public works until I get the full detailed accounts. The railway capital expenditure in both years, was large.