HC Deb 21 October 1981 vol 10 cc129-30W
Mr. Hooley

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is his estimate of the total outflow of private investment funds from the United Kingdom since exchange controls were abolished; and what information he has as to the countries in which the largest sums have been invested in aggregate since that date, including investment by individuals and by institutions and pension funds.

Mr. Bruce-Gardyne:

An analysis of the effects of ending exchange controls was published in the October 1981 Economic Progress Report. That article gives the most up-to-date estimate of balance of payments capital flows in recent years; and notes that it is not possible to disentangle the separate contribution of ending controls from all the other influences over the period. There is no information available on the geographic breakdown of new investment flows, although certain figures are published on the geographic breakdown of unit trusts and investment trusts' overseas holdings in footnotes to tables 8.11 and 8.12 of Financial Statistics.