§ Mr. Carterasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will publish in the OFFICIAL REPORT the figures for overseas investment in each of the years from 1945 to the latest date also expressing each figure as a percentage of gross national product.
§ Mr. NottUnited Kingdom private investment overseas in each of the years 1952 to 1972, in value and expressed as a percentage of gross national product at factor cost, is shown in the table below.114W Figures for private investment for the years prior to 1952 are not available.
Investment £ million As percentage of GNP 1952 … … … 127 0.9 1953 … … … 173 1.1 1954 … … … 238 1.5 1955 … … … 182 1.1 1956 … … … 258 1.4 1957 … … … 298 1.5 1958 … … … 310 1.5 1959 … … … 303 1.4 1960 … … … 322 1.4 1961 … … … 313 1.3 1962 … … … 242 0.9 1963 … … … 320 1.2 1964 … … … 399 1.4 1965 … … … 368 1.2 1966 … … … 303 0.9 1967 … … … 456 1.3 1968 … … … 727 2.0 1969 … … … 679 1.7 1970 … … … 763 1.8 1971 … … … 854 1.8 1972 … … … 1,350 2.5 The financing of private investment overseas in recent years up to 1971 is given in Table 25 of United Kingdom Balances of Payments 1972 (the "Pink Book"). Comparable information for 1972 is not available but it is known that the large increase in investment in 1972 was mainly financed by reinvested profits and by net foreign currency borrowing by United Kingdom banks.