Public Sector Borrowing Requirement

HC Deb 22 July 1981 vol 9 cc128-9W

Mr. Ernie Ross

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the public sector borrowing requirement of the United Kingdom, Japan, and each European Economic Community country per head of population in £ sterling.

Mr. Lawson

The public sector borrowing requirement, a measure of the public sector's call on financial markets, is not generally compiled by other countries and the data are not available from international sources. The most similar measure available on a consistent basis for most of the countries in question—but not for Belgium and Denmark—is, in United Kingdom terminology, the general government financial deficit—general government being central Government plus state and/or local authorities. The latest figures for this aggregate are given in National Accounts of OECD countries 1961–1978 Volume II—line 31 "net lending" in table 9 of each country's section.

The relevant exchange rates are given in Financial Statistics, table 13.1. The relevant population data may be obtained from the United Nations Monthly Bulletin of Statistics, table 1.

All these publications are available in the Library.