§ Mr. Brothertonasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer, in view of the present high money and real interest rates, what steps he will take to fund the borrowing requirement 692W other than through unnecessarily expensive fixed interest debt.
§ Mr. Denzil Davies:The Government are constantly looking for ways of improving the financing of their own operations. However, attention must also be given to the requirements of monetary control. A number of innovations have been made over the past two years, including the introduction of variable rate stocks, the spreading of payments on some new issues, and the change in the method of fixing the Bank of England's minimum lending rate. Meanwhile, action has been taken to keep the terms of national savings and certificates of tax deposit competitive with those of other instruments of comparable maturity so as to minimise the burden on the gilts market.