HC Deb 06 March 1978 vol 945 cc517-8W
Mr. Ron Thomas

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what was the total of interest, profits and dividends earned last year on privately owned assets overseas; what was the approximate rate of return on such assets; and what proportion of the total interest, profits and dividends earned overseas were remitted to the United Kingdom.

Mr. Robert Sheldon

The overseas earnings of the private sector in the form of interest, profits and dividends cannot be given separately. The earnings of the private sector and public corporations in the first three-quarters of 1977 were £2,683 million, seasonably adjusted. Estimates for the fourth quarter will be available in a press notice to be issued by the Central Statistical Office on 8th March 1977. Estimates of remittances are not fully identifiable, but unremitted profits of overseas subsidiaries of United Kingdom parent companies—excluding oil companies—are estimated to have been £910 million. Largely because of difficulties of valuing the various components of overseas assets, reliable estimates of rates of return are not available.