§ 3. Mr. Richard Wainwrightasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer by approximately what date he expects to know the public sector borrowing outturn for 1983–84.
§ The Chancellor of the Exchequer (Mr. Nigel Lawson)I expect to publish an estimate of the public sector borrowing requirement outturn for 1983–84 on 17 April.
§ Mr. WainwrightAs the Chancellor treats the PSBR as the centrepiece of his policy, and as in the previous two Budgets there have been mistakes of £2 billion and £1.5 billion in the forecast of the PSBR outturn, why does he not revert to the mid-April Budget date, so that it may be more accurately based?
§ Mr. LawsonThe hon. Gentleman has a good point. We seek to make the most accurate estimate that we can of the borrowing requirement for the year coming to an end when framing the Budget for the following year. I agree that a case can be made for having the Budget in mid-April rather than in mid-March, as he suggested.