§ Mr. Bodyasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he will state for each year since 1964 the total public expenditure, excluding interest paid on the National Debt, as a percentage of the gross domestic product at factor cost.
§ Dr. GilbertPercentages based on two definitions of total public expenditure are given below:
(1) (2) 964 27.8 39.1 965 28.4 40.7 966 29.6 41.6 967 31.6 45.4 968 31.1 46.2 969 30.2 45.4 970 31.0 46.0 971 30.9 45.8 972 30.5 46.0 973 30.6 46.5 In both cases the percentages are of gross domestic product at factor cost, and are based on figures from National Income and Expenditure 1973 and Preliminary Estimates of National Income and Balance of Payments 1968 to 1973 (Cmnd. 5575).
Column 1 represents that part of expenditure by central Government, local authorities and public corporations which is a direct demand on resources—expenditure on consumption, and investment in fixed assets and stockbuilding.
Column 2 includes column 1 plus loans and transfer payments made to other sectors, other than debt interest paid on total public sector debt.
The transfer payments and loans included in column 2 do not represent the direct pre-emption of resources by the public sector; however, they do entail additional final expenditure in so far as they are used for consumption and investment by the private sector.