§ Mr. Cantasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he is yet in a position to publish an estimate of the savings to personal disposable income ratio for the third quarter of 1975.
§ Mr. Denzil Davies13.7 per cent. seasonally adjusted. The quarterly estimate of savings is obtained as the difference between two large aggregates—personal disposable income and consumers' expenditure—and small changes in the quarterly savings ratio cannot be regarded as significant. However, the figure does suggest a continuation of the relatively high levels of personal savings observed in earlier quarters. Prior to their publication inEconomic Trends quarterly estimates of the personal savings ratio are given in the regular CSO quarterly press notices on personal income, expenditure and savings, the latest of which was issued on 9th January.
§ Mr. Cantasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what steps he proposes to take to offset the growth in the deflationary gap in the United Kingdom economy, created in part by the increasing propensity to save of the British people as evidenced by the net acquisition of financial assets by the personal sector of £2.2 billion in 1973, £4.25 billion in 1974 and £6 billion in 1975 (estimated).
§ Mr. Denzil DaviesI am afraid that I cannot anticipate the contents of my right hon. Friend's Budget, which will be presented to the House in due course.