§ Mr. Austin MitchellTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he will publish in theOfficial Report a table showing the gold and foreign currency reserves at the latest available date compared with 1958, 1968, 1978 and each year since 1982, and the extent to which the change was due to a change in the value of the assets held at the beginning of each period; to what extent the increase in the reserves was sterilised by the issue of debt instruments; and if he will give particulars of the holdings of such instruments at the latest available date.
§ Mr. LilleyIn October this year the official reserves stood at more than $50 billion. The levels of official reserves for earlier years are shown on page 147 ofEconomic Trends, annual supplement 1988 edition, and in table 28 of the monthly Economic Trends, published by the Central Statistical Office. Details of annual valuation changes since 1979 in the official reserves can be found in pages 98–99 of Financial Statistics, explanatory handbook: 1988 edition, also published by the Central Statistical Office.
The Government's policy of fully funding the PSBR, the underlying changes in the reserves and maturing debt, although not necessarily in the same financial year in which they occur, was last enunciated in my right hon. 412W Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer's Mansion House speech on 20 October. It is not possible to distinguish the assets used to fund the underlying changes in the reserves from those used for other funding.