§ Mr. Hordernasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will give an estimate of the extra cost that will be incurred both by nationalised industries and by local authorities of servicing loans to them designated in Deutschemarks.
§ Mr. Taverne£1.7 million in respect of borrowing by the Gas Council. All other borrowings are covered by the special arrangements for exchange cover provided by the Treasury. The additional costs in these cases amount to nearly £8 million over the lives of the loans at current exchange rates, and are borne by74W the Exchange Equalisation Account. These costs are largely offset by the Treasury charge for this cover.
§ Mr. Ridleyasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what has been the loss of capital value on all German borrowings made by local authorities and nationalised industries due to the revaluation of the Deutschemark.
§ Mr. Roy JenkinsA total of 610 million Deutsche marks has been borrowed and the same sum in Deutschemarks will need to be repaid. The effect of revaluation is to increase the sterling equivalent of this borrowing by £5.5 million. In so far as the borrowers used the special arrangements for exchange cover provided by the Treasury this difference is met by the Exchange Equalisation Account.