HC Deb 27 July 1983 vol 46 cc447-8W
Mr. Gould

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he will publish in the Official Report a table showing for each financial year the underlying increase in sterling M3 in percentage terms after making allowance for all forms of disintermediation due to the operation of controls.

Mr. Lawson

No reliable estimates of the effect of controls on sterling M3 are available.

Mr. Gould

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he will publish a table in the Official Report showing for each quarter since 1974 the percentage increase in sterling M1 and sterling M3 and the difference between each such figure and the rate of inflation two years later.

Mr. Lawson

Quarterly percentage changes in M1 and sterling M3 are published in table 11.1 of "Financial Statistics". The rate of inflation, as measured by changes in the general index of retail prices, is available in theDepartment of Employment Gazette.

Mr. Gould

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he will publish a table showing for each year since 1970 and for 1983 to date the ratio which the increase in sterling lending to the private sector bears to the target increase in the money supply.

Mr. Lawson

Figures for sterling lending to the private sector are published in "Financial Statistics", table 11.3; a run of data appear in "Economic Trends" annual supplement. Monetary targets have been published only since 1977 and were announced in successive Budget and other policy statements to the House.

Mr. Gould

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is his estimate of the amount of interest rate change needed to secure a given change in the growth of sterling M3 and the length of time needed to secure the change.

Mr. Lawson

A change in interest rates may affect the demand for sterling M3 directly if it is associated with a change in the relative return of holding money, and indirectly through its effects on—among other things—the exchange rate, private sector wealth, and economic activity. It is not possible to give a realiable quantification of the size or timing of these effects.