§ MR. WEIR (Ross and Cromarty)To ask the Secretary of State for India if he will state the nature of the securities in which private deposits in the postal savings banks of India are invested, the rate of interest allowed on deposits, and the average balance to the credit of each depositor.
(Answer.) The savings banks deposits arc not invested in the purchase of securities, but held as part of the balances available for the general purposes of the Government of India. The rate of interest is 3⅛ per cent. On the 31st of March, 1901, the average balance at the credit of each depositor was about 123 rupees.—(India Office.)