§ Mr. McTaggartasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what information he has as to the changes in interest payments made by industry between 1978 and the most recent year for which figures are available.
§ Mr. MooreThe available information is given in the following table. This shows interest payments made by industrial and commercial companies, and by the self-employed, and interest and dividends, etc., paid by public corporations. Separate figures of interest and dividend payments are not available for public corporations. As a large proportion of public corporation payments is made to the central Government and local authorities, the breakdown between payments to the public sector and to other sectors is also shown.
55W
£ million 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 Interest payments made by: Industrial and Commercial companies* 3,116 4,553 6,666 6,804 7,322 Self-employed persons 805 1,274 1,871 2,147 ‡ Public corporations: Total† 2,507 2,801 2,857 3,244 3,795 of which To central government and local authorities 1,699 1,925 2,080 2,393 2,827 To private sector and overseas 808 876 777 851 968 * Excluding payments on debenture and loan capital. † For public corporations, interest includes dividends, etc. ‡ Not available.