§ Mr. Formanasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will set out in tabular form what percentage of (a) GNP and (b) public expenditure is accounted for by interest on public sector debt in
General Government interest payments in 1974 percentage of GNP at market prices percentage of total General Government expenditure* United Kingdom … … … … … 4.0 9.2 France … … … … … 0.75 2.0 West Germany … … … … … 1.2 2.8 Netherlands … … … … … 2.6 5.2 Belgium … … … … … 3.5 8.8 Italy (1973) … … … … … 3.2 8.0 Denmark … … … … … 1.1 2.4 Irish Republic (1973) … … … … … 3.8 9.6 Luxembourg … … … … … 0.9 2.3 * Excluding capital grants, net lending and acquisition of company securities. Source: OECD: National Accounts of OECD countries, 1974 Vol. II.