HC Deb 28 November 1972 vol 847 cc74-5W
Mr. Norman Lamont

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much of public expenditure to date in the current financial year and in 1972–73 has been financed through net sales of long dated securities to the non-banking sector.

Mr. Nott

My hon. Friend will find figures of net purchases of British Government securities by the non-bank private sector in Table 18 of Financial Statistics. A breakdown by length of maturity is not available by sector; a breakdown of official sales to all sectors combined is given in Table 3(1) of the Bank of England Quarterly Bulletin.

Mr. Norman Lamont

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer by what means other than sales of long-dated Government securities the deficit on the public expenditure account in 1971–72 and 1972–73 will be financed.

Mr. Nott

An analysis of the financing of the central Government borrowing requirement by type of asset is given in Table 18 of Financial Statistics. Details of the financing of the borrowing requirement of local authorities and public corporations are given in Tables 30 and 34 respectively. A substantial part of the public sector borrowing requirement in the current financial year should be financed by sales of securities, such as gilt-edged stock, local authorities debt and national savings, that do not expand the reserve base of the banks.