§ 65. Mr. Ripponasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what proportion of public expenditure is currently represented by debt interest with both debt interest and public expenditure defined as they were on Monday 24th January before the forthcoming Public Expenditure White Paper and to what extent he estimates that proportions as thus defined would rise in 1977–78 and 1978–79 at the levels of interest rates operating in Monday 24th January.
§ Mr. Joel BarnettOn the definitions used in Cmnd. 6393 and previous public expenditure White Papers the proportion in 1976–77 is estimated at 10 per cent. If interest rates remained at the level of Monday 24th January through the next two years it is estimated that this proportion would rise by 1 per cent. in 1977–78 and by a further 1 per cent. in 1978–79.