HC Deb 25 October 1973 vol 861 cc728-30W
Mr. Meacher

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will give his estimates of the size of, respectively, the sterling inter-bank, local authorities, finance houses, certificates of deposit, and inter-company money markets for each year since 1955; and if he will give similar annual estimates for the size of the Eurocurrency markets from the same date.

Mr. Nott

, pursuant to his reply [OFFICIAL REPORT, 22nd October 1973; Vol. 861, c. 380], gave the following information:

Of the money markets mentioned in the Question, only that in sterling certificates of deposit is sufficiently well defined for there to be comprehensive estimates of its size in terms of turnover as well as outstanding liabilities. These figures are as follows:

STERLING CERTIFICATES OF DEPOSIT
£ million
Average monthly turnover in the secondary market Outstanding liabilities (end-June)
(1) (2)
1969 170 281
1970 405 794
1971 685 1,440
1972 1,046 3,744
1973 1,420* 5,251
* Up to and including August only.

Notes:

Column (1)—

  1. (a) The "Secondary Market" is made up of the 12 members of the London Discount Market Association and a limited number of banks; these institutions buy certificates from issuing banks and from other holders and either on-sell them or hold them until maturity.
  2. (b) The figures relate to returns made by the Discount Market and three Accepting Houses and cover the major part of the Secondary Market.
  3. (c) Turnover is defined as total purchases plus total sales.
  4. (d) Source: Bank of England Press Release.

Column (2)—

Source: Bank of England Press Release. Figures for end-banking months are shown in Financial Statistics (Table 41, September 1973 issue).

In respect of the other markets, apart from the inter-company market for which no statistics are available, figures of out- standing liabilities of the institutions involved are published in the following sources:

Sterling inter-bank As from 1972 the total of banks' sterling deposits with other banks appears in Financial Statistics (Table 41, September 1973 issue).

Local authority Figures of outstanding local authority temporary debt appear in Financial Statistics (Table 31 in September 1973 issue).

Finance houses Figures (of selected categories) of outstanding liabilities appear in Financial Statistics (Table 66, in September 1973 issue).

Eurocurrency The liabilities of banks in certain European countries, in currencies other than their domestic currency, appear in the Annual Reports of the Bank for International Settlements which also provides an analysis of developments in the Eurocurrency market.

The market in sterling certificates of deposit was described in the December 1972 issue of the Bank of England Bulletin.