§ Mr. Squireasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what proportion of total industrial investment in the United Kingdom has come from abroad in each year since 1970.
§ Mr. MacGregorI have been asked to reply.
The information in this form is not available. Direct investment by overseas concerns in the United Kingdom measures the amounts invested in the share and loan capital, short-term loans, trade credit, and unremitted profits of their United Kingdom subsidiaries, associates and branches. The United Kingdom concerns use this to finance increases in their debtors and stocks, to repay loans, and so on, as well as to purchase fixed assets. How much is used for the latter is not known. It is therefore not possible to estimate the amount of expenditure on fixed assets that is financed from overseas. I refer my hon. Friend also to the reply I have given today to a question along similar lines from my hon. Friend the Member for Hereford (Mr. Shepherd).