§ Mr. DavidsonTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will publish(a) the working assumptions on outstanding central Government debt and average interest rates underlying the entries for central Government debt interest in table 2A.3 of the "Autumn Statement", Cm 2096, (b) a ready reckoner of the effects on such expenditure of increments of £1 billion in outstanding central Government debt and of increments of one percentage point in average interest rates on such central Government debt, (c) the working assumptions on outstanding local authority debt and average interest rates on such local authority debt underlying the entries for local authority debt interest in table 2A.11 and (d) a ready reckoner of the effects on such expenditure of increments of £1 billion in outstanding local authority debt and of increments of one percentage point on average interest rates on such local authority debt.
§ Mr. PortilloThe debt interest projections shown in tables 2A.3 and 2A.11 of the "Autumn Statement" were based on the working assumption that the public sector borrowing requirement is £37 billion in 1992–93, 7 per cent. of gross domestic product in 1993–94, and then falls as the economy recovers.
It is not conventional practice to publish projections of interest rates.
The effects of increments to the stock of debt or to interest rates on payments of debt interest will depend upon the composition of the outstanding debt and upon the average cost of funding.
Ready reckoners for local authority debt interest payments will similarly depend on the composition of local authority debt and the cost of funding.