§ MR. BUCHANAN (East Aberdeenshire)I beg to ask Mr. Chancellor of the Exchequer, what are the sums that have been voted by Parliament in successive years to make good the deficiencies on the Post Office Savings Bank account; and, what would be the estimated annual saving to the State if the interest on deposits in Post Office Savings Banks were reduced from two and a half per cent. to two per cent.
§ SIR M. HICKS-BEACHThree sums have been voted by Parliament to make good deficiencies on the Post Office Savings Bank account, namely:
| £ | |
| In the year 1896–7 | 3,791 |
| In the year 1897–8 | 11,702 |
| In the year 1898–9 | 9,674 |
§ The reduction of interest on deposits in the Post Office Savings Banks from two and a-half to two per cent. would of course 50 be equivalent to a reduction of the amount of interest by one-fifth. The estimated amount of interest for the year 1898 at two and a-half per cent. was, in round figures, £2,841,000; at two per cent. the amount would be £2,273,000, a saving in respect of that year of £568,000.