§ Mr. David Howellasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he will take steps to ensure, when publishing the full public sector borrowing requirement figures for the first financial quarter of 1983–84, that an estimate is given as to the approximate proportion of total borrowing for the quarter that has been earmarked for capital spending projects.
§ Mr. LawsonBorrowing is not earmarked for particular items of expenditure. Provisional outturn figures for the PSBR in the first quarter of 1983–84 will be publised this Thursday. Borrowing information is available well in advance of corresponding outturn data for other items in the public sector accounts. The first estimates of capital spending in the first quarter will be published in the October issue ofFinancial Statistics.