HC Deb 19 May 1953 vol 515 cc1850-1
9. Mr. Nabarro

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer the surplus of national savings over encashments in the first six weeks of the current savings year, also the deficit or shortfall of new deposits against withdrawals from the Post Office Savings Bank and Trustee Savings Bank during the same period; and what deductions he has made from these trends.

Mr. R. A. Butler

Disregarding accrued interest and Defence Bonds paid off on maturity, receipts reported by the National Savings Committee in the six weeks ended 16th May, 1953, exceeded repayments by £100,000. For savings banks only there was a deficit, on a comparable basis, of £7,500,000. I do not consider that any valid conclusions can be drawn from savings figures covering a period as short as six weeks, although it is encouraging to note that over that period this year there was an improvement of nearly £10 million compared with the corresponding period last year.

Mr. Nabarro

Would my right hon. Friend agree that probably what is happening at this time is that there is a considerable encashment by depositors in the Post Office and Trustee Savings Banks who are withdrawing their money because their interest is taxed and are investing it in National Savings Certificates where no interest is taxed at all? In view of the undesirability of a trend of this kind, can my right hon. Friend say if he has any steps in mind to deal with it?

Mr. Butler

I could not give an answer to so important a question on the spur of the moment, but I will examine what my hon. Friend says.