§ Mr. Hayhoeasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the total of the United Kingdom foreign currency and gold reserves; and how this compares with the figures for the countries of the European Economic Community.
§ Mr. HigginsThe following figures show the U.S. dollars equivalent of the
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TAXES ON INCOME AND SOCIAL SECURITY CONTRIBUTIONS AS A PERCENTAGE OF PUBLIC EXPENDITURE, 1969 Current expenditure of general government(1) Current expenditure plus fixed capital formation of general government(2) Current expenditure of general government plus capital formation of general government and public enterprise United Kingdom(3) … 56.3 52.0 45.2 Belgium(4) … 61.6 56.0 … France … 63.7 58.0 51.4 Germany(5) … 67.4 60.2 … Italy … 54.6 51.2 … Netherlands(6) … 75.5 66.5 61.4(7) … Not available. (1) Including social security funds. (2) Excluding fixed capital formation of all public enterprises. (3) Figures include revisions published since the O.E.C.D. return was submitted. (4) Current expenditure includes transfers other than social security to households net of receipts. (5) Excluding casualty insurance transactions. (6) Figures for current expenditure of general government have been taken from National Accounts 1959–69 published by the Statistical Office of the European Communities. (7) Excluding changes in stocks. latest available published official reserve holdings of gold, convertible foreign currencies, S.D.R. and (where applicable) lending under the General Arrangement to Borrow:
$ million United Kingdom … 3,316* France … 5,404† Germany … 13,289† Italy … 5,599† Holland … 2,989† Belgium and Luxembourg … 2,597† * End-March, 1971. † End-February, 1971