§ Mr. Lawsonasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the size of the public sector borrowing requirement was, both absolutely and as a percentage of GNP, for each of the last 20 financial years up to and including 1974–75.
§ Mr. Joel BarnettThe following table shows the information requested for the nine calendar years 1955 to 1963 and for the 12 financial years, 1963–64 to 1974–75. Figures of the borrowing requirements for earlier financial years are not available.
PUBLIC SECTOR BORROWING REQUIREMENT COMPARED WITH GNP AT FACTOR COST £m. Proportion of GNP Per cent. 1955 469 2.8 1956 564 3.0 1957 486 2.5 1958 491 2.4 1959 571 2.6 1960 710 3.1 1961 704 2.9 1962 547 2.1 1963 842 3.1 1963–64 1,084 3.9 1964–65 880 2.9 1965–66 995 3.1 1966–67 1,214 3.6 1967–68 1,980 5.5 1968–69 453 1.2 1969–70 −525 −1.3 1970–71 807 1.8 1971–72 1,010 2.0 1972–73 2,516 4.4 1973–74 4,458 6.8 1974–75 7,889 10.0