§ Mr. Malcolm BruceTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the present total of short-term financial assets held by the Government; if he will list the major categories of such short-term financial assets held; and if he will make a statement. [17183]
§ Mr. JackIdentifiable short-term financial assets of central Government were over £8 billion at the end of September 1996. These assets consisted of sterling bank deposits, £6.7 billion; foreign currency bank deposits, £500 million; and holdings of short-dated bills by the issue department of the Bank of England, £900 million. Non-identifiable short-term financial assets include a proportion of the official reserves—the total value of which was £28½ billion at the end of September 1996—and of Government holdings of local authority and public corporation debt—£42 billion and £21 billion, respectively. Figures for the maturity structure of these assets could be supplied only at disproportionate cost.
Government debt, net of financial assets, was reduced by nearly £6 billion in January. This was the largest repayment of debt in a single month for eight years.