§ Mr. CohenTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will state the amounts by which those in the personal sector were in debt in(a) 1979 and (b) 1989; and what proportion in the sector were not in debt at all in both years.
§ Mr. RyderThe financial liabilities of the personal sector amounted to £70.9 billion in 1979 and £364.9 billion in 1989. These figures may be found in table 14.5 of "Financial Statistics" or on the CSO database which is accessible through the Library. No information is available on the proportion of those in the sector who were not in debt at all.