§ Mr. Lawsonasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will publish a table showing the public sector borrowing requirement as a percentage of gross domestic product, using national definitions, for each of the following countries for every year since 1945 for which the information can be obtained: the United Kingdom, France, the Federal Republic of Germany, the United States of America and Japan.
§ Mr. Joel BarnettI refer the hon. Member to table 17 of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development—(OECD)—publication, "Economic Outlook" No. 22, issued in December 1977 which incorporates information from 1960. Later information in respect of the United Kingdom is shown in the table below.
Public Sector borrowing requirement as a percentage of gross domestic product* per cent. 1970 — 1971 2.4 1972 3.2 1973 5.8 1974 7.7 1975 10.2 1976 7.5 1977 4.2 *At market prices