§ Mr. Ripponasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is his estimate of the proportion of public expenditure represented by debt interest in the current financial year.
§ Sir Geoffrey Howe[pursuant to his reply, 10 March 1981, c. 303]: Gross debt interest as a percentage of the planning total plus gross debt interest in 1980–81 is estimated at 12 per cent. The ratio using net debt interest is estimated as 5¼ per cent.