§ Mr. Austin Mitchellasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will publish in the Official Report a table showing for each year since 1970 the proportion of gross domestic product accounted for by contractual savings and the savings ratio, together with his forecast for the current year.
§ Mr. Ian StewartThe available figures* for 1970 to 1972 are as follows:
Personal sector committed savings as a percentage of GDP† Personal savings ratio 1970 6.5 9.0 1971 6.3 7.3 1972 6.9 9.7 * Consistent with Nation Income and Expenditure, 1983 Edition and Financial Statistics, October 1983, supplementary table s23. † Expenditure based, market prices. The remaining figures for personal sector committed saving are given in my reply dated 24 November 1983. [Vol. 49, c. 300.]
The remaining figures for the personal saving ratio are given in National Income and Expenditure, 1983 edition table 4.1.
The personal savings ratio in the first half of 1983 was 8.7 per cent. (seasonally adjusted). The forecast included in my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer's autumn statement was consistent with a further small fall in the ratio in the second half of 1983.