§ DR. MACNAMARA (Camberwell, N.)To ask the Postmaster-General what, on the 31st December, 1905, was the total amount due to depositors in the Post Office Savings Bank; what amount of consols was sold during the year 1905, and at what average price; what was the amount of Consuls held on account of the Post Office Savings Bank on the 31st December, 1905, and what is the average price per cent. at which the stock was purchased; whether it is his intention to resume preparation and publication of a balance sheet of the Post Office Savings Bank, after repealing, if that be necessary, Section 9 (2) of the Savings Bank Act, 1904; what is the deficiency, if any, in the income account for the year ended 31st December, 1905; and what was the total amount withdrawn during the year under the new regulation permitting the withdrawal, without notice, of sums not exceeding £1.
(Answered by Mr. Sydney Buxton.) The total amount due to depositors in the Post Office Savings Bank on the 31st December, 1905, is estimated to have been £152,113,000. The exact figures cannot yet be given. The amount of consols sold from the Post Office Savings Bank fund during the year 1905 was £1,445,525, the average price being £89 13s. 7d. per cent. The amount of consols held on account of the fund on the 31st December, 1905, was £60,715,140 48 the cost price on balance of the stock averaging £102 16s. 5d. per cent. It will, of course, be understood that these consols were bought for the most part in years when the stock bore a higher rate of interest and stood at a higher price. The preparation and publication of the balance sheet, containing a valuation of the securities held on he half of the Post Office Savings Bank, was discontinued in accordance with the recommendations of the Select Committee of 1902, who considered such a return to be misleading, and I am not aware of any sufficient reason for reversing that decision. The deficiency in the Income Account of the Savings Bank for the year ended 31st December, 1905, is estimated at £92,032. The system of withdrawals "on demand" only came into force on the 3rd July, 1905. The total amount withdrawn under this system between that date and the end of the year was £1,270,163, and it has been found to be a great convenience to the small depositors.