§ Mr. Burdenasked the Chancellor or the Exchequer (1) what is the total sterling value of outstanding loans made to the British Government by overseas countries as at 1st January 1975;
(2) how much in total has to be paid in interest in 1975 on foreign loans already made to the British Government;
(3) what is the present total sterling value of foreign loans that have to be repaid by the United Kingdom on or before 1st January 1980.
§ Mr. DellThe total sterling value of outstanding loans made to the British Government by overseas countries and by banks was £2,462 million at the end of December 1974. This total includes the equivalent of £638 million drawn before the end of 1974 on Her Majesty's Government's foreign currency loan from the clearing banks. During 1975 interest payments will total £42 million, plus the interest payable on Her Majesty's Government loan: the latter cannot be estimated precisely since the loan is on 161W a floating interest rate basis with different tranches of the loan drawn at different rates and subject to modification at different roll-over dates.
The dollar equivalent of £359 million of Her Majesty's Government loan is repayable on or before 1st January 1980.
The sterling equivalents of dollar amounts indicated in the figures above are computed on the basis of market rates on 31st December 1974.