§ Mr. Gouldasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the value of short-term commercial bills which the Bank of England has purchased month by month so far in the current year; and what were the comparable figures for the years 1980 to 1985.
§ Mr. Ian StewartNet purchases of commercial bills by the Bank of England have been as follows:
81W
1986 1985 1984 1983 1982 1981 1980 October +1,754 +123 +1,056 +354 +213 -15 -121 November +171 -548 +322 +21 +1,748 +251 December +1,233 -715 -352 -865 +533 47 Figures up to and including September 1986 are in banking months; the October 1986 figure is for the calendar month. In the period between the end of banking September 1986 and the beginning of calendar October, the bank purchased £23 million of commercial bills.