§ Mr. Cockeramasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what was the average interest rate paid on the national debt in each of the past 15 years; and what is the average rate due to be paid in the current year ;
(2) what was the total of the national debt on 31 March, or the nearest available date in each of the last 15 years ; and what is his estimate of the national debt on 31 March 1981 ;
(3) what interest was paid on the national debt in each of the past 15 financial years ; and what is his estimate of the interest due to be paid in the current year.
§ Mr. Lawson: Figures of the national debt outstanding at 31 March each year and of the annual amount of interest paid thereon are published for each financial year in the Consolidated Fund and national loans fund accounts and supplementary statements. Prior to 1 April 1968 when the National Loans Act 1968 established the national loans fund, the 83W national debt was a liability of the Consolidated Fund. Details of the national debt and interest payments thereon were given annually in the finance accounts of the United Kingdom for the relevant year.
Borrowings which make up the national debt are in many varied forms. It is not possible to state an accurate average
(1) Year (2) Total National Debt outstanding at end of financial year (3) Interest paid on Total National Debt (4) Column (3) expressed as a percentage of Column (2) ie at 31 March of previous financial year (per cent.) (£ million) (£ million) 1965–66 … … 31,340 1966–67 … … 31,986 1,198 3.8 1967–68 … … 34,194 1,321 4.1 1968–69 … … 34,000 1,310 3.8 1969–70 … … 33,079 1,412 4.2 1970–71 … … 33,442 1,419 4.3 1971–72 … … 35,840 1,596 4.8 1972–73 … … 36,885 1,828 5.1 1973–74 … … 40,457 2,284 6.2 1974–75 … … 46,404 2,790 6.9 1975–76 … … 56,585 3,482 7.5 1976–77 … … 67,166 4,449 7.9 1977–78 … … 79,180 5,101 7.6 1978–79 … … 86,885 6,369 8.0 1979–80 … … 95,327 8,290 9.5 (provisional) 95,327 8,290 9.5 1980–81(forecast) … … (no estimate of national debt outstanding is made) 9,885 10.4