49. Lieut.-Colonel TODDasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what was 1620 the total sum borrowed by the Government during the War; and how much of this total, respectively, was represented by credit newly created by the banking system and lent to the Government at interest and money lent by the public from their savings, exclusive of new credit created by the banking system and lent to the public to lend to the Government? Mr. CHAMBERLAIN : My hon. and gallant Friend will find full particulars of Government borrowings in the annual National Debt Return for 1933 (Command Paper No. 4415), column 13 of the Return on page 9 showing the net amount of cash raised by borrowing during the War period, and column 9 on page 11 showing the increase in the nominal amount of debt. The information asked for in the last part of the question is not available.
§ 50. Mr. CRAVEN-ELLISasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer the amount of the borrowings charged to the National Debt during the War which subsequently was redeemed at a premium; and what additional burden did this premium place upon the taxpayers?
Mr. CHAMBERLAINBetween July, 1914, and November, 1918, nearly £4,000 millions was raised, partly by cash subscription and partly by conversion of existing debt, subject to the condition that repayment would be made at a price in excess of the issue price; but only a small fraction of this amount was actually repaid, the remainder being converted or otherwise dealt with. The existence of the premium was one of the conditions which determined the effective rate of interest at which the money was borrowed, and is not rightly described as imposing an additional burden on the taxpayer.