Foreign Currency Debt

HC Deb 24 November 1983 vol 49 cc445-6

8. Mr. Peter Lloyd

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the present level of United Kingdom official external foreign currency debt.

Mr. Ian Stewart

Total official external debt now stands at around $12 billion.

Mr. Lloyd

Is that not a welcome reduction in the massive official debt accumulated by the Labour Government, thereby saving this country considerable annual interest payments to creditors overseas? Does my hon. Friend believe that the current strength of the pound makes it highly desirable to reduce that debt still further?

Mr. Stewart

The answer to the first part of my hon. Friend's question is that since 1979 we have greatly reduced the external debt of this country, which was run up in the extravagant days of the Labour Government. In fact we have reduced it by $10 billion from the figure that they reached. On the policy for the future, I think that a proper balance between the figures that we have now reached may well be where we should rest for the time being.